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The African Development Bank said on Friday it had approved a US $16.6 million loan to Burkina Faso to finance forest management projects in the drought-prone West African country.
The money would be used to develop 202,400 ha of forest, plant trees along the banks of rivers and reservoirs, manage the Bontioli wildlife reserve and rehabiltate 300 km of feeder roads, it added.
The bank said funds would also be used to promote income generating activities among people living near the forests.
"The project will involve the participation of the populations living near the forests and enable them to improve their living conditions," the ADB said. "It will involve the demarcation of 180 village lands and curb the destruction of forests and environmental degradation."
Burkina Faso is a poor landlocked country of 11 million people which lies within the arid Sahel region south of the Sahara desert.
The capital Ouagadougou, is currently facing a serious water shortage. Some of its 1.2 million residents have been without piped water for up to three days at a time and the prices charged by private water sellers have risen 10-fold. On Thursday the government banned the use of drinking water for irrigating gardens, washing cars and building houses.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions