2007-2012 co-PI with Stefanie Herrmann, Mamadou Baro and Randy Gimblett. NSF [6757504] “Desertification” or “Greening”? Human-Environment Relationships in the Face of Climate Variability: Case Studies in Mauritania and Senegal. Submitted to NSF: Geography in July, 2007. Awarded $400,000 in December 2007, starting date April 2008.
PROJECT SUMMARY: Desertification’ or ‘Greening’? Human-Environment Relationships in the Face of Climate Variability: Case Studies in Mauritania and Senegal (Stefanie Herrmann, Thomas Park, Mamadou Baro, Randy Gimblett)
Beginning in the late 1960s, the West African Sahel zone has repeatedly made headlines for a number of – potentially related – environmental and economic problems, which manifest themselves in changes in land cover. While these changes are often referred to as ‘desertification’, there has been a lack of consensus among scientists over the exact meaning of this notion, the mechanisms governing it, and the extent of the problem in the Sahel. Recent remote sensing-based studies have shown an overall greening trend in the Sahel, which might indicate that positive developments have been going on. However, the meaning of ‘greening’ is equally vague as that of ‘desertification’, and its implications on the ground are far from clear and unambiguous.
The overall goal of the proposed project is to develop empirical evidence that can inform our understanding of the interactions among land use, land cover, and people’s livelihoods in the in the face of rainfall variability and unpredictability in two Sahelian countries, Mauritania and Senegal.