Posted on August 26, 2021
Saly used to be one of the most popular touristic hotspots of Senegal. Unfortunately, the coastal community suffered from rising sea levels and other negative effects of accelerated climate change. When Van Oord arrived in the area, not many traces were left of the once buzzing holiday destination. The beach was gone, hotels had to use rocks and sand bags to protect themselves against the sea and tourists stayed away. Tourism is the main source of income for its 20,000 inhabitants and therefore its decline due to climate change had disastrous economic consequences. In addition, human interventions such as the construction of a small craft harbour and groynes upstream of the beaches disturbed the longshore sand transport and deposit downstream along Saly’s coast.
Joining forces with the local community
Van Oord was called in to reinforce the coastline and revitalise the area. The project aims to protect people, houses, economic and cultural infrastructure in the region against coastal erosion. During the project, we made sure local stakeholders were involved. We kept the local community informed and we employed local people, so that about 40% of the workforce was Senegalese. Once Van Oord started, locals immediately began using the beach, entrepreneurs set up small businesses again, hundreds of children could safely play on the beach and some even saw a beach for the first time in their lives. Finally, fisherman could work safely again. Curious to know more about the sustainable impact Van Oord has made in Saly? Regional Manager Africa Maarten Meeder and Project Manager Joffrey Cary recently discussed the project and the impact on Saly’s local community in a webinar. Watch the session below.
Find out the true impact and value
We apply the KPMG True Value methodology to assess the positive and negative impacts of projects and to determine the value we create for our stakeholders. These calculations can help us to rethink projects and determine whether we need to find alternative solutions and working methods that are better for the environment, client, stakeholders and local communities. We also used this tool to analyse the Saly coastal project and found that total value creation amounted to a net positive impact of almost USD 42.5 million. The calculation of the true value is based on our social, economic and environmental impact made in the area.
