A Perspective on Integrated Management of a Tropical Coastal Area: The Case of the Saloum Biosphere Reserve (Senegal, West Africa)

The Senegalese government is establishing a strategy of multiple use within its coastal protected areas, with community participation in its management. This ongoing study is based on the identification and analysis of natural and human effects on Saloum Biosphere Reserve (Senegal), which is also a Ramsar Wetland area. This article points out a few nonrestrictive orientations for integrated management of the protected area and its surroundings. The main objectives of the current management plan are: a permanent monitoring process of the natural resources, training and information about the positive effects of a sustainable conservation strategy, setting up strategies that could improve the living standards of local communities, and promotion of an institutional framework for better management of the biosphere reserve with all actors' participation.