Reforestation ceremony in the village of TAMAFOUROU

At the beginning of the 20 th century, Côte d'Ivoire had a forest cover of more than 16 million hectares, including a wooded savannah rich in resources. Today, this heritage is severely reduced, with only 2.97 million hectares of forest remaining and a degradation of the savannahs, exacerbated by the advance of the desert. The Béré region suffers from this deforestation largely caused by human activities such as bush fires, which represent approximately 30% of the causes of degradation.

To counter this situation, the Ivorian government, through the Ministry of Water and Forests, launched a national forest restoration policy with projects such as "1 village, 5 hectares of forests". In this context, Ivoire Coton and the Paul Reinhart Foundation contributed to a reforestation project by planting five hectares of trees in Tamafourou, in the sub-prefecture of Dianra-Village, on August 13 th , 2024.

The planting ceremony brought together approximately 450 people, including local authorities and representatives of Ivoire Coton. The speeches highlighted the importance of the contribution of these organizations to the preservation of the environment, while congratulating Ivoire Coton's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions, such as the reshaping of roads and the construction of community structures.

The General Manager of Ivoire Coton also recalled the main challenges to be met in terms of cotton production in the Dianra region, including the preservation of soil fertility and the improvement of the quality of seed cotton. The participants then planted trees on the reforestation site, located near the village of Tamafourou.