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Eco-Benin is the pioneer of ecological and fair tourism promotion in Benin, and has 20 years experience in offering ecotouristic itineraries to encounter the country and its inhabitants, combined with local development and preservation of biodiversity.
Eco-Benin uses ecotourism as a lever for economical development of the local communities that manage themselves. It offers technical collaboration from the start-up of projects to their extension with the help of about 30 professionals of diverse disciplines.
From South to North, about fifteen ecotouristic villages were developed where villagers give us a warm welcome and offer lodging, food, guided tours, and sales of handicrafts and local products. These activities complement their income. Over three hundred villagers benefit already. Eco-Benin is also active in environmental protection. Key projects include the planting of mangroves to create a biological reserve of 10,000 hectares in the South, and the promotion of fuel-saving ‘Wanrou’ cooking stoves in the North.
Eco-Benin is an active member of the ‘International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), International social tourism organisation (ISTO) and of ‘Altervoyages’ (a Belgian network for alternative travels). Eco-Benin is a founding-member of the ‘Beninese Federation of Organizations for Ecological and Fair Travel’ which has instituted the certificate for ‘Benin Fair Tourism’.
Ecological and fair travel with Eco-Benin allows you to discover the welcoming country and its people while contributing to protect its nature and culture. We immerse in another world, meeting the others.
Mission Statement
Promote human development at local and national level through the management and valuation of natural resources for ecotourism and eco-development
Program Details
Implementation of the management plan of the Community Biodiversity Conservation Area of Bouche du Roy (Mono Transfrontier Biosphere Reserve MAB UNESCO)
See the whole managment plan
Bouche du Roy area extends over the municipalities of Grand-Popo and Comè in Benin. It covers an area of 9678 hectares. In recent years, there is evidence of an advanced degradation of biodiversity due to anthropogenic pressures (overexploitation of fishery resources, cutting of mangrove trees and coconut plantations, construction of human dwellings, etc.) and natural pressures (climate change, silting of streams and water bodies). This situation has motivated the establishment of a community biodiversity conservation area with a management and protection system for this area, which contains many species of fauna and flora on the Red List of the IUCN. This management plan has identified the opportunities to be valued for the conservation of this area. Based on Benin's vision in the forest sector, the conservation of biodiversity, and based on the visions and objectives of the communal development plans of neighboring municipalities, the vision of the community biodiversity conservation area of Bouche du Roy is as follows: By 2021, the Community Biodiversity Conservation Area of Bouche du Roy is a protected area federating the conservation efforts of several actors for the preservation of species of fauna and flora and for the sustainable and equitable development of grassroots communities.
STRATEGIC ORIENTATION & GENERAL OBJECTIVE
Based on the opportunities, constraints in this community area, three major strategic orientations have been formulated. They are: i) Implementing an aggressive advocacy and partnership policy to mobilize resources for the conservation of species and their habitats ; ii) Strengthening the managerial capacities of the actors at the grassroots level for a better appropriation of the objectives and strategies of management ; iii) Developing a monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the actions undertaken.
The Management Plan of the ACCB-Bouche du Roy aims at preserving natural resources and biodiversity (including fish, mangroves, manatees and turtles) with a view to promoting sustainable fishing, sustainable tourism and environmental education. Specifically, the priorities to be taken into account in the implementation of the management plan are: i) protect and restore natural ecosystems ; ii) develop existing, economically viable and conservation-compatible activities for the local population ; iii) contribute to the self-management of the local management structures put in place.
Promoting Wanrou cookstoves to save forests in the North of Benin
Firewood and charcoal are the main sources of household energy (80.3 % for wood and 13.4 % for charcoal) used by the local rural communities in Benin.
High population densities coupled with high population growth rates, is putting increasing pressure on natural resources across Benin, which are being overexploited. The resulting situation is alarming with increasing levels of deforestation (= more CO2 into the atmosphere) and environmental degradation.
In addition to the environmental consequences of such high wood use, there are also serious health implications. Biomass is often the predominant source of energy for cooking, especially in rural areas, and is generally carried out on thermally inefficient traditional devices, which consume high amounts of wood and exhausting large amounts of smoke and indoor air pollution. It has been concluded that ‘indoor air pollution is a major environmental and public health hazard for many of the world’s poorest, most vulnerable people’…
WANROU aims to slow down degradation, reduce CO2-emissions and the pressure on natural resources while improving LIFE for the local communities
See more detail at www.wanrou.org
