Agroforestry systems designed by local communities with some outside technical support can address problems of soil degradation, fuelwood supply and food security. The people of rural Senegal depend directly on forest and range resources, such that their landscape serves as a working forest. This poster will evaluate the results of a workshop for seven villages in northern Senegal where the author assessed local perceptions of forest resource conservation, explained local forestry laws, and introduced methods for improved resource management and land use planning. Agroforestry technology offers locally appropriate solutions for long term management in the Senegal River Valley; the poster explains this technology and how it was adopted. The results of this workshop provide a framework for similar community forestry extension which can be applied throughout the African Sahel.

The workshop was carried out as an assignment for the US Peace Corps in collaboration with the Senegalese Forest Service and the USAID Community Based Natural Resource Management program.