Sankandi Youth Development Association

The Sankandi Youth Development Association - SYDA is a registered charitable association in rural Gambia, it has grassroots project based in the Kiang West of The Gambia, in West Africa, and focused on restoring the native mangrove forests and empower the rural communities. The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa and one of the poorest. Shaped by the river Gambia and its tributaries, there used to be extensive mangrove forests but these have been strongly affected by human action. For Sankandi and many other communities along the river banks, the loss of mangrove cover has had serious impacts: loss of habitat for fish species and reduced catches, less firewood available, and loss of valuable farmland and rice fields due to accumulation of salt in the soil.

Based on the current results, the project aims to plant 10 Million mangrove propagules to(re) create a green belt across rural Gambia that connects the mangrove forests of 6 communities.