VIDEO. Produce honey to fight against deforestation? – Insurance for Pets

Welcome to the mangroves of Kassel, a few kilometers from Kafountine in Casamance. The mangrove is this forest that grows on marshes and is threatened by climate change.

Since the 1970s, the Senegalese mangrove has lost 45,000 hectares, or a quarter of its surface. To protect it, the Poumolindiana association decided to produce honey there. The objective: to use bees as a disruptive element of the destructive potential of the mangrove. « We use bees with beehives by installing them all over the mangroves. So instead of standing there, talking with people, forbidding them to cut, we are using this soldier to be able to do the job. Because the person who gives himself to come and destroy the mangrove, once he begins to cut a branch or a mangrove root, the bees will get angry and they will come towards him. He will be forced to leave his equipment and flee« , explains Salmond Diatta, secretary of the Poumolindiana association.

Since 2018, the association has produced more than 100 kilos of honey. Very famous for its sweet salty taste and light color, mangrove honey is sold for 7,500 CFA francs per liter, compared to 1,200 CFA francs for ordinary honeys.