Deforestation and poaching: two major challenges
Deforestation is one of Côte d'Ivoire's major environmental challenges. Forests - particularly primary ones - are both carbon sinks and reservoirs of biodiversity. They are threatened by fragmentation, encroachment by agricultural land (using slash-and-burn techniques), industrial logging, firewood and illegal logging (trafficking in precious woods), as well as overgrazing. Their disappearance threatens all natural balances, the climate and biodiversity. Poaching, which has been on the increase during armed conflicts, constitutes a risk of destruction for both animal and plant species. Indeed, "keystone species" - including certain herbivorous monkeys - disseminate seeds. Faced with these challenges, efforts have been made at several levels, but remain insufficient to date. In addition, the latest socio-political crisis has put the brakes on previous sustainable management initiatives. The country's deforestation rate is one of the fastest in the world. From 16 million hectares in the 1960s, forests represented just 2.97 million hectares in 2024. New reforestation policies have recently been introduced. The Ministry of Water and Forests has planted 100,000 hectares of degraded forest in 2023, almost three times as much as in 2022 (37,000 hectares). The goal is to reach a forest cover of 6.5 million hectares by 2030.
A country subject to multiple pollution
Cities, and especially capital cities, are exposed to a host of environmental problems, exacerbated by population growth. In Abidjan, for example, waste management is a major issue. The city does not have a waste collection system in all its districts, so a lot of garbage is thrown out into the countryside and washed into the Ébrié lagoon by the rain. The waste collected by the city is taken to the Akouédo landfill, a facility with no environmental safeguards. As a result, liquid residues also end up in the lagoon. Mining is also a source of pollution (use of chemicals and mercury) and deforestation.
Promising initiatives
Multi-partner projects are deployed throughout the country, notably with the support of international institutions. Micro-financing programs, for example, enable us to work directly with local communities on sustainable resource management. Examples include successful mangrove rehabilitation projects. In the Comoé National Park, a project involving livestock breeders and farmers has not only calmed conflicts, but has also helped to protect natural environments by setting up transhumance corridors and concerted management of water points. The country is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030 and neutrality in terms of land degradation. On the lagoon near Jacqueville, the village of Adoukro is to become a modern, ecological town focused on sustainability, with a business district, an ecological park and a lagoon promenade. The project, part of the Greater Abidjan urban development plan launched in 2024, has a budget of 100 billion FCFA.
