00:00It was a big catch for many fishermen today in Gunjur, Gambia.
00:04They are delivering their haul to a fish meal factory.
00:08But their catch is now often disappointing.
00:11We have a lot of environmental challenges, ranging from sand mining.
00:16From there we have fish meal factories.
00:19Fish meal factories also, you know, compromising a lot of our opportunities.
00:24This Chinese factory was opened in 2016.
00:27The local communities were excited about the possible job opportunities, a fish market and improved roads.
00:34But the hopes for growth have come with a hefty price tag.
00:39Bringing damage to the environment here.
00:42The water on the coastline is believed to have changed colour due to the chemicals found in the factory's wastewater discharged into the ocean.
00:51We asked the fish meal factory for a statement but they declined.
00:54This water started changing this colour when this factory started the operation here.
01:00Most of the time when it came into this colour you don't see any much boats here because they don't like what happens.
01:08The water doesn't look good for anything.
01:11The first time it happened is also kill all the small fish and also kill a lot of crabs.
01:17So we have documented that this happens because we have these fish meal factories.
01:23The marine forest area is affected too.
01:27This Poulong Fenyo Wildlife Reserve was established in 2008 to protect mangroves, woodlands and coastal dunes.
01:35The 345 hectares reserve was once a thriving habitat for migratory birds, bats and monkeys.
01:46But climate change and pollution, largely driven by human activity, have disrupted the ecosystem forcing the birds to stop nesting near the lagoon.
01:56But there is still hope, this group of environmentalists started the Gunjur Conservationist and Ecotourism Association to lead change and inspire community solutions.
02:14We came up with the initiative called Indigenous Nursery Project.
02:20Why Indigenous Nursery Project?
02:22We wanted to introduce the trees that are native Gambian trees back to the forest.
02:28Most of these trees have economic importance, they have medicinal importance and they have cultural importance.
02:35So these trees, that's what we nurture from our nursery side, then restore back to the forest.
02:42Lammin Jassi has made it his mission to raise awareness in the community of the need to plant trees.
02:50This project is much needed because in the past 25 years, the Gambia has lost 732 hectares of tree cover according to the Global Forest Watch.
03:01This loss is mainly due to wildfires, firewood collection and clearing land for agriculture.
03:06As a scientist, we have a concern with regards to some of the economic activity we are seeing over the years.
03:13Yes, people everywhere wanted to have a land to develop and to have a settlement.
03:18We've been seeing a lot of state agencies emerge from this country.
03:22But then, yes, that will show people what they are doing is the right move.
03:26The forest protects this fast eroding shore of the Atlantic Ocean, which is home to endangered sea turtles.
03:33The coastline is an important home for green turtles to lay their eggs.
03:38But when they come to shore, they are often attacked by fishermen or people in the community.
03:44Like here, these are shells of green turtles killed while trying to nest.
03:48The idea behind this facility is we try to create a head start tank with our partners, keep some fuel turtles with us, boost their growth, study their behavior and ecology, boost their growth to a certain size.
04:09Then when they reach that, when we have the expert advice from our partners, are still a suitable time to release them.
04:16The turtle village in Gundjur also collects data on the water quality to better understand forest and marine life.
04:23For us, we think this data will help government to make an informed decision because they will know what we are collecting.
04:38We are collecting how much fish go to the factory and how much go to the community.
04:43We record that.
04:45And as well, overall, fish that land in the water and also the fishing gears that they use.
04:50Lammin and his team know that the future of this ecosystem mainly depends on the commitment of the people who call it home.
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