is a non profit, grassroots, community-based, community-led organisation) officially registered in Sénégal. Its headquarters is the eco-commune of Lahel (Senegal). Its scope of action covers two countries: Senegal and Mauritania but its long-term vision is to include all countries in the Sahel Region. REDES envisions a green and peaceful Sahel environment, preserving the environment through a network of communities, youth, leaders, and decision makers who collectively support renewed ecological practices in villages across West Africa. Situated directly south of the Sahara, the region of the Sahel is particularly vulnerable to desertification, a process that threatens to alter not only the ecological composition of this unique bioregion, but also the livelihoods and cultural practices of communities, which have existed the region since the formation of ancient kingdoms to the present. A close relationship to this ecology is the reason for a history of human flourishing in this region, and we believe that reclaiming and nurturing this relationship is essential to ameliorating the problems the region faces at present. The ecologically fertile past of the Sahel still remains in the cultural memory of the residents of Podor region, in the Senegal River Valley where REDES is based. Amidst northern Senegal’s river region, the area surrounding Guede Chantier was the first region of rice cultivation in all of West Africa. This ecological legacy lives on in the community, where rice is still grown and an emerging ecovillage movement is taking hold. But despite bright opportunities, land degradation and poverty continue to mutually reinforce one another, limiting the region’s potential as cycles of dependency perpetuate. Amidst these challenges educating people around the world on the socio-economic and environmental realities of the Sahel has been among our first strategies. Through academic programs that pair American and Senegalese students in collaborative service learning with the community, as well as global partnerships through the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), Gaia Education, the European Union (EU),HBCU Green Fund and other organizations, REDES strengthens international partnerships and turns global attention to the imminent issues that face communities and ecologies in the Sahel. On the ground REDES connects local actors, communities, and sponsors for more locally relevant and effective field work, while also empowering youth as well as community leaders and decision-makers to preserve their environment. As a network, REDES facilitates these global connections by weaving local and international alliances to strengthen peace-building, income-generating, and environmentally-friendly initiatives in the region. In individual communities REDES draws from the wealth of knowledge in regional and international communities to provide training and facilitate exchange in order to promote best ecovillage practices as well as the vision of a green and peaceful Sahel. The wider our network, the more we can bolster the social and ecological well being of the Sahel; our vision is that someday REDES will expand its activities to all West African countries and connect all communities of the Sahel. And in working for ecological and cultural preservation of the Sahel as part of a search for a more sustainable development, we hope to see not only a Sahel, but a world that is more green, peaceful, and culturally and economically vibrant.
