Coastal Erosion in Dakar, Western Senegal

Abstract

Like many other coastal cities in West Africa, Dakar is prone to several coastal hazards. The most serious among these hazards is coastal erosion. The Geology of Dakar is mainly dominated by Tertiary igneous rocks, and overlying Quaternary sediments. So far, the area covered by the sediments suffers severe erosion as a result of adverse natural processes and human interferences. The effect of nature is through two modes of strong and constant swells and the action of tidal waves during rough-sea seasons. The contribution of human beings is due to a cumulative effect of poor city planning and overpopulation. Since most of the economically active places in Senegal are concentrated in Dakar, people are partially forced to live in this area so that they can earn something for survival. This concentration of people led to a construction boom, and then, to excessive sand extraction from beaches and dunes. As a result, the balance between erosion and deposition has been changed, and led to gradual lowering of the land and to eventual massive scale of coastal erosion.