The Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development organized the official launch ceremony for the activities of the Degraded Lands Restoration Project in Mali (PRTD – MALI) on Thursday, March 14, 2024 at the Radisson Collection Hotel in Bamako (ex Sheraton). The event, which was chaired by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Dr. Choguel Kokalla MAIGA, was marked by the presence of many ministers and actors in the field, as well as the Director of Operations of the World Bank in Mali, Ms. Clara De Sousa.

In Mali, nearly 90 per cent of households depend on firewood and charcoal for their energy needs. More than 100,000 ha of forest land is lost each year, much more than the annual reforested area estimated at only 10,000 ha. For example, out of the 32 million hectares of forests listed in Mali in 1985, only about 17.4 million hectares remain.

According to Mali 2020's National Neutrality Plan for Land Degradation, cultivated land is increasingly affected by wind erosion, chemical degradation, physical soil degradation, biological degradation and runoff degradation. This degradation, resulting from the loss of land cover and pollution, costs more than 31 per cent of GDP per year in Mali.

Therefore, in response to all these problems, the Government of Mali, with the technical and financial support of the World Bank, initiated the Project for the Restoration of Degraded Lands in Mali (PRTD-Mali), whose financing agreement of 130 million euro, or just over 90 billion CFA, was signed on 7 June 2023 and the effective implementation on 10 January 2024.

For example, the Mali Degraded Land Restoration Project (PRTD-Mali) aims to increase the adoption of climate-smart degraded land restoration practices and increase access to income opportunities in Mali.

Indeed, its ambition is to restore the natural, social and cultural capital of the targeted areas in a sustainable manner. The project opted for a resolutely innovative, transformative and multi-sectoral approach to integrated landscape management. This approach aims to achieve social, economic and environmental objectives simultaneously through activities designed at the grass-roots level, while at the same time promoting the transition from a management mode to a mode of governance focused on the democratization of social and environmental issues. This project is therefore distinguished by several innovations that will not only achieve the objectives set, as it is based on the basic foundations of sustainable development, emphasizing the need to think globally and act locally.

In his speech, the Minister of the Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development, Mr Mamadou SAMAKE, stated that « PRTD will reach 2.3 million beneficiaries in 87 municipalities (Kayes, Kita, Nioro, Koulikoro, Nara, Ségou, Douentza and Mopti regions) targeted on the basis of the vulnerability index ».

For her part, the World Bank's Director of Operations, Clara De Sousa, said this project is of particular importance, as it embodies a resolutely innovative and promising approach. » This project will enable Mali to obtain additional information on its resources through the forest management plans, pasteureaux and fisheries plans to be developed and implemented. It is a strategic, structuring and innovative activity in several respects. » Did she explain. Finally, it reaffirmed the World Bank's continued availability and commitment to support Mali in its development efforts for the well-being of the vulnerable population.

Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla MAIGA said the Mali Degraded Lands Restoration Project strengthens the overall balance between the convenience and quality of life of people. According to him, it is a matter of stimulating development while reserving a better future for future generations, recalling that environmental issues and sustainable development are major issues for the Transition authorities.

With a duration of 7 years (January 2024 to October 2030), the PRTD will invest in integrated regional development and empowerment of local people in resource management, job creation for skilled and unskilled youth, diversification and increased value added of resources and products from targeted areas, and their preservation.