Contribution à la gestion intégrée des eaux et des sols à travers l'application du contrat de rivière Sourou au Burkina Faso.

Inspired from the experience of river contract in Wallonia (Belgium), the implementation of a first river contract has been initiated in a West-African country, Burkina Faso, since 2003.
In the program of actions approved by the river committees in December 2005, the protection of water resources and grounds was taken into account. The first realized actions contributed to slow down the degradation of the ecosystems by recreating a space buffer between the river and the cultivated zones.
A first project of restoration of the gallery forest alongside the stream was implemented to fight
against desertification.
This project arouses a strong mobilization of the local actors and demonstrates that such a contractual tool of participative management can make an interesting contribution in favour of an integrated management of waters and grounds. In a river contract, these two resources are associated in a common reflection which transcends still too often sector-based policies.