J_eau_J Dakar 2022

Microbiological and physicochemical measurements of marine waters in Senegal

Coordination

Guillaume Constantin de Magny et Patrice Brehmer

Project type

International

Funding

Comité International Olympique

Project duration

Start Date

21/11/2024

End Date

21/11/2024

Links

As part of the organisation of the 2022 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Dakar, many sporting activities will be organised, including open water sports such as sailing, triathlon, surfing and rowing. To this end, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Senegalese National Olympic Sports Committee (CNOSS) have mandated the Institute of Research for Development (IRD), through two of its departments (Oceans, Climate and Resources and Health and Societies) and its representation in Senegal, to carry out sampling and analysis campaigns at sea to determine the microbiological quality of the pre-selected sites.

During these campaigns, in addition to the evaluation of the microbiological quality of the water, the IRD undertook to carry out, as far as possible, measurements and analyses of the physicochemical quality of the sea water and to make its results available to the IOC and the CNOSS free of charge. This project follows the results obtained in the tripartite AWA project “Ecosystem approach to fisheries and marine environment management in West African waters” (IRD BMBF, 2013-2017; https://www.ird. fr/la-mediatheque/videos-en-ligne-canal-ird/awa-approche-ecosystemique-de-la-gestion-des-peches-et-de-l’-environnement-marin-dans-les-eaux-ouest-africaines) as part of one of its demonstration projects entitled Awatox [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0-PXzpNXbs ] carried out in partnership with the Pasteur Institute of Dakar, ISRA/CRODT, UCAD FST, Birdlife, etc, The project is also the result of numerous communication actions to raise awareness of the issue of marine pollution in Senegal, targeting decision-makers and the general public.

Lastly, this project has also made it possible to support three postgraduate doctoral theses locally in Senegal (at the University of Dakar UCAD FST, and the University of Bambey UADB), including a thesis in marine ecotoxicology under the joint supervision of UBS (University of Southern Brittany) and the LBCM (Marine Biotechnology and Chemistry Laboratory).