How to use the rivers or swamps of Cotonou: Alfred Houngnon's proposals

Cotonou de par sa situation géographique bénéficie d’une surface maritime et d’importants plans et cours d’eau capables d’aider le Bénin à relever les défis à la fois écologiques, socio-cultural and economic. Alfred Houngnon, specialist in Valorization of Heritage Biodiversity and Citizen Mobilization, in this interview, propose des solutions en vue de leur assainissement et leur réhabilitation. Lisez plutôt!!!

How to use the city's waterways or Swamps to better navigate through the 13 districts of Cotonou or beyond in the conurbation that brings together Greater Nokoué (Cotonou, Porto Novo, Abomey calavi, Ouidah, Sème Podji and all the lakeside cities) ? 

Interurban river transport is thus possible since the landscape of the connected wetlands allows it.. It will be enough to restore the hydrological continuity in the city by jumping the bridges, Unambitious culverts and pontoons which today constitute the biggest obstacles to flow. In this way, we can replace part of the procession of the Zemidjans with river boats. It's soft mobility that responds more at the same time to less greenhouse gas emissions. But also to our capacity for adaptation and resilience at the heart of a sustainable city.

So tell us how to make the most of and make the best use of Cotonou's water bodies without harming ourselves in order to better live with water through ecotourism and fish production. ?

From this point of view, we will think about preserving the natural habitats or biodiversity lodges of our urban swamps in Cotonou by transforming them into urban ecological islands that can continue to host avian diversity, the reptiles, Fish and other associated fauna to serve as a basis for the survival of species that have the right to a life but also as a tourist unit. Our rivers will become highways with a full central core forming ecological islands to offer Cotonou a less anthropocentric vision. This is the real basis of sustainability. otherwise, fish production especially the production of Tilapia (prized fish) will make Cotonou a center of circular economy and dignified and healthy production. The practical version of this ambition is underway in Fifadji, with a replicable model of the initiative. Fifadji is a portion of one of the largest swamps in Cotonou which starts from Togbin (in Ouidah) for Lake Nokoue (in Cotonou) along an azimuth of 70°. A few rare Beninese citizens of the Diaspora as well as from the interior very Bold in our internal capacity to achieve this, are organized around this mobilization.

What will be the impact of such an operation ?

The oremi consequence is the densification of humans and their maintenance in Cotonou. Ce qui s’oppose à la question du relogement d’une partie de la ville sur les plateaux en hauteur à partir d’Abomey calavi. The short-term vision will lose arguments Cotonou will evolve towards an integrated megalopolis able to feed its urban residents and inscribed in a resilience displayed like Amsterdam, Venise Etc…

Are you convinced that this is the only solution to limit the damage in Cotonou ?

Sure. Since the rise in water following the melting glaciers, if this does not remain a hypothesis challenges us all. Car la Mer reprendra sa place à partir du moment où chaque goutte d’eau qui fait monter la Mer la rapproche de son vieux trait de côte qui était à la lisière du plateau continental dans les limites d’Abomey Calavi, de Savi…. And our role as humans able to anticipate and predict the future is to find a coping mechanism.. It goes without saying that despite the rise of the Sea, Cotonou can persist if we restore today, les vieux fonds marins devenus marécages après le retrait de la Mer d’il y a des milliers d’années. Palpable proof of this vision is the Dantopka channel, which has created an affinity between the sea and Lake Nokoué, avoiding the extension of flooding in Cotonou since then. 1885. The high tides flow into Lake Nokoué via the channel and the overflow from the Ouémé also flows into the sea via the same channel sparing Cotonou and its ridges.. We must repeat this development model by restoring the waterways with a good practice of intelligent and non-systematic dredging.

Outside Cotonou, what are the other cities concerned ?

The villages of Porto-Novo, Note that “Knowing and better acting” is intended to be the forum that provides the right information to workers and equips them with the content of the laws., from Lokossa, by Grand Popo

How to combine business with pleasure for the happiness of all ?

I therefore appeal to the solidarity of citizens, conceptual, to each other's genius, despite our strong differences of interest and appalling social disparity. I appeal to the sense of sharing and intelligent solidarity to get us off the beaten track. It is together that we crumble as a civilization, population or people. Singularity has no meaning for the progress of a nation. All solutions for sustainable development, harmonious and prestigious are available locally. Unfortunately, innovations remain stuck in the recesses of the consciences of citizens and even lignify for lack of appropriation and implementation. Otherwise, I'm not inventing anything. Several Beninese have said enough for little since 1960. La science, scholarly knowledge and resources, exist and unfortunately dispersed in the memories and laboratories of our public universities, private and home libraries. We have not succeeded in putting in place a mechanism for displaying our individual reflections in the public square (culture of secrecy and Psychosis of expropriation in the face of the fragility of property rights). The dissemination of research results in Benin is condemned to silence beyond the defense. What prevents access to information especially with this university and scientific model which is organized in a vision of occult sphere, corporatist and closed bubbles inaccessible to the community, street geniuses and politicians with power in hand. Many research works also ignore the usefulness, the essentials and cling to Western fashion in order to earn research crumbs that only end up feeding foreign databases. This malfunction also means that each time, decision-makers and politicians call on foreign expertise that is often not sufficiently informed about political emergencies. This reflection that we have been carrying out since 2008 on the water route in Cotonou and its potential, is not a dissertation but a desire to take control of your destiny where you were born. And we have the intimate conviction that we will achieve prodigious results with the broader citizen mobilization. Thank you also for being there for this ultimate support.

Production : Damien TOLOMISSI