Mapping the Future: Communal-Based Cartography in Niger Improves Land Use Practices

In Niger, the effects of decades of unplanned, uncoordinated land use are myriad and widespread. Community members suddenly dislocated by uncontrolled development. Flood risks escalating in rapidly deforested regions. Water quality worsening as a result of unregulated manufacturing and land degradation. Conflicts on the rise as communities compete for increasingly scarce natural resources. Figuring out how to balance and plan protection of vital, shared resources like water, forests, and pasturelands with the need for improved food security and delivery of public services is perhaps the top challenge facing community and government leaders today in the Saharan nation.