Human Effects on Tabounsou’s Coastal Ecosystem and the Matoto-Conakry Case Study of Sustainable Management Practices

Humans have always engaged with their surroundings and the ecology in which they live. However, during the industrial age, this contact has been more intense and has had a substantial impact on environment and ecosystems. For example, overexploitation of natural resources, mining, pollution, and deforestation are all elements that negatively affect biodiversity and natural resources. Few studies have been conducted to evaluate the damage caused, despite the significant uncontrolled pressure from human activity. However, maintaining its environment is essential to the survival of coastal fishing. Goal: This study’s goal was to evaluate how human activity affected Tabounsou’s coastal ecology in order to suggest remedial actions for sustainable management. The following was the methodological approach used: executive consultation and archival analysis; stakeholder survey (locals, farmers, salt producers, fishers, and loggers); inventory of species; anthropogenic activity inventory; evaluation of how human activity affects aquatic life in the research region; suggestion and action for sustainable management; Outcome: Executive consultation indicated that the main issues are: construction projects that reduce the estuary’s surface area; agricultural practices such as woodcutting and salt farming; the rise in resource exploitation; noncompliance with fisheries laws; and the catching of young fish. Eighty-three percent of fisherman ditch their nets on the coast after using them, but only seventeen percent burn them. With a 75% frequency rate, the same survey indicates that most fisherman fish around the coast. In the Tabounsou area, according to loggers’ survey, 68% of the wood cut is Rhizophora, 24% is Avicennia, and 8% is Laguncularia. Three fish stocks, representing nine families and nine species, were identified by the species inventory. At 18% and 15%, respectively, the actors most frequently capture the species Pseudotolithus elongatus and Arius parkii. According to a poll of 30 farmers, 90% of them apply fertilizer to their soil, while only 10% do not. During the dry season, salt is grown. According to two actors, Bougna Toro Toro produces 100 kg of salt per day, followed by Khoumawadé, which produces 80 kg, and Toumbibougni, which produces 70 kg.