CAPE VERDE ISLANDS, Fogo Island - December 2000
Construction of a water tank and nursery for endemic plants
Click photo to enlarge
The arid islands of the Cape Verde archipelago are located about 300 miles from Senegal on the West African Coast. Rainfall is erratic and there are long periods without any precipitation. Fogo is the fourth largest island in the archipelago, with an 8,500-foot volcano at its center. The volcano, which last erupted in 1995, and the surrounding plateau are to become Cape Verde's first national park on an inhabited island. Over-utilization of the slopes of the crater has led to the destruction of many endemic plant species as well as accompanying erosion. Seacology has assisted the local community development association Associacão de Promocão do Desenvolvimento Comunitário de Cabeça Fundão in their efforts to rehabilitate already degraded areas on the slopes by building a water tank and a nursery for endemic plants.
UPDATE July 2004 - Fogo Island National Park was officially declared in February 2003. The Seacology -funded water tank and nurseries have been integrated into the Fogo Island National Park’s restoration activities. Three to five thousand endangered plants were grown each year for the last two years and transplanted onto the formerly barren slopes. One of the nurseries is also being used to grow and sell fruit producing plants to generate extra income for the villages surrounding the park. As awareness about the Fogo Island ecosystem has increased, villagers have asked the nursery to provide them with endemic plants so they can extend the restoration area to their properties.
