Accor is reforesting the Niayes area and encouraging sustainable agriculture

Accor’s commitment

The project is funded through savings made in hotels in Southern Europe, Africa, the Middle-East, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean: every time a towel is reused by a customer, the hotels pay 50% of the laundry savings to the project in Senegal.

The project

In partnership with the NGO SOS SAHEL International France, Accor is supporting the group of producers that is reforesting the Niayes area located along the Atlantic coast, between Dakar and Saint Louis (Louga and Thiès regions). This strip of land is approximately 182 km long and 200 to 500 meters wide.

The Niayes area is a strategic food growing region for Senegal, because two thirds of the vegetables consumed in the country are grown there. This region is threatened by desertification: 80,000 hectares of forest disappear each year in Senegal. In the Niayes area, the agricultural basins are progressively losing their only barrier against the encroachment of sand.

Since 1958, the Senegal national water and forests service has been running a program to preserve the balance of the natural environment. The area has been progressively planted by filao trees to fix the dunes and protect the land from ocean winds and sand. Accor and SOS SAHEL are now completing this program by supporting the planting of additional trees and promoting sustainable agroforestery.

The planting

Filao seeds are planted from March, in nurseries managed by producer groups partnering with SOS SAHEL. These farmers have nine nurseries, each producing up to 50,000 plants per year.

The producers then plant the young filao trees starting in July, to fight the sands that are filling in the food growing basins.

Local benefits

The project helps create sustainable conditions for agricultural production, the primary source of income for the food growers. The planting stabilizes the soil and improves its fertility and water resources.

In addition, SOS SAHEL supports producer groups in the rational exploitation of forests through the use of sustainable agricultural techniques: for example, traditional ovens that use 70% less wood, agroforestery, composting filao tree litter, fixing dunes, etc.

Our NGO partner in Senegal is SOS SAHEL

SOS SAHEL

Created in 1978, SOS SAHEL International France is an NGO specialized in sustainable development. It is involved in the following countries of the SAHEL: Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad. It is recognized as a public utility organization and is a member of the Comité de la Charte / Charter Committee.

SOS SAHEL aims primarily to improve the living conditions of the rural populations of the Sahel that have been weakened by drought and poverty. Its objective is to provide the means to the most underprivileged to become agents of their own development.

Its primary action areas are food safety, environmental conservation, access to basic services (drinking water, health, education), and the promotion of SAHEL development organizations.

Photo gallery

Testimonials

The support provided by SOS SAHEL International and Accor is a great contribution...

When we learned that the filao strip needed to be restored as quickly as possible because it was getting very old, and that the local people would be in charge of doing that, we were really very worried because we did not know how this could be done. The support provided by SOS SAHEL International and Accor is therefore a great contribution to our local union.
To illustrate that, before the project started, in the Lompoul union we were restoring four hectares of forest with the participation of two groups, and today we are restoring 29 hectares with the participation of 16 groups.

Mbaye SOW, President of the Lampoul Union's Thiokhmat 5 producer group

SOS SAHEL International France is delighted by the partnership set up with the hotels of the Accor group

Thanks to this mobilization, the funds collected will help preserve the balance of the natural environment in the Niayes area.
This region is seriously threatened by desertification and deforestation. We are helping the producer groups to restore the natural environment, prevent sand from encroaching on the vegetable growing basins, and generate local income. Planting a tree is a synonym for life as well as survival.

Rémi HEMERYCK, Delegate General of SOS SAHEL International France

The partnership between SOS SAHEL and Accor shows that reforestation can be a genuine catalyst to development

The Niayes area deserves a lot of attention because of its economic and environmental importance. Any action directed toward preserving the filao strip and improving the ecosystem is praiseworthy.
The partnership between SOS SAHEL and Accor shows that reforestation can be a genuine catalyst to development. Beyond its environmental aspects, the creation of income from preserving the filao strip is a motivating factor for the success of the planting activities.

Adama FALL, Project Manager

Our clients understand why we have made this commitment

[Reusing the bath towel], is not necessarily a natural gesture for guests. Sometimes we have to explain the purpose of the gesture, to tell them that the laundry savings achieved by the hotel are used to finance the planting project in Senegal implemented by SOS SAHEL. In these circumstances, our guests understand the importance of not wasting water and the reason for our undertaking.

Marthe Zang, Head housekeeper of the ibis Douala