With the world's media focussed on the "COP21"
climate conference in Paris this
week, stories with a climate change angle are proliferating across the
Internet. One of the most striking from my perspective is the impact of rising
sea levels on the Island of Saint-Louis
in Senegal. Saint-Louis,
a world heritage site since 2000, became an entrepot for European traders in
the second half of the 17th century, and the political capital of French West
Africa (FWA) until 1902, and capital of Senegal
and Mauritania
up until 1957.
Today, the coast is being eroded at several points around
the island and buildings in outlying villages are being washed away by the sea.
According to UN-HABITAT, Saint-Louis
is the most vulnerable city in Africa to rising sea
levels. And while the Senegalese government has recently announced a USD1.6
million project to build breakwaters, much of the population is at risk, along with
the island's unique cultural and natural heritage.
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