From residents in the Boa Esperança neighbourhood to private sector agents on the island of Boa Vista, two meetings brought together residents, children and adolescents and investors in a project that combines climate adaptation, social inclusion and economic development. 

The climate regeneration of the Salinas de Sal Rei begins with people. On July 18^th, the Boa Esperança neighbourhood hosted a day of community mobilization, organized with the support of the Climate Action Program in partnership with the Municipality of Boa Vista. The morning was marked by two children’s soccer tournaments, female and male, and the afternoon by a public presentation of the project, accompanied by youth theatre and dance. 

The neighbourhood borders the salt pans and has more than 8,000 inhabitants, most of them children and young people. By recovering this wetland and creating an urban climate park with adapted vegetation, paths, bike paths, sustainable drainage, climate refuges and a climate interpretive centre, the intervention aims to respond to extreme heat and the scarcity of green spaces, while creating opportunities for leisure, learning and economic activity and redefining itself as a bird-breeding area. 

In numbers

Subsequently, on the 22^nd of July, representatives of the island’s private sector met to learn about the project’s comprehensive vision and explore opportunities for co-financing and partnership. The support of the Luxembourgish Cooperation of around €1.05 million and which began with the preparation of the Local Climate Action Plan, will make it possible to intervene in approximately one third of the total area. To achieve all the planned ambition, it will be necessary to mobilise around €2 million. 

Finally, on July 25^th , the Mayor, Cláudio Mendonça, received the visit of the Minister of Environment, Climate Action and Energy of Cabo Verde, Carlos Alberto Ramos Varela, the Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Cabo Verde, Jean-Marie Frentz, and the Resident Representative of LuxDev, Yves Dublin, to the Salinas de Sal Rei, within the scope of the project “Nos Salinas, Nos Clima”. 

The visit allowed these entities to become familiar with the intervention area up close and follow the vision that guides the project. During the visit, the potential of the Salinas de Sal Rei to assert themselves as a reference space on the island of Boa Vista and in the country as an example of an urban climate park was highlighted, contributing to the conservation of biodiversity, increasing climate literacy and promoting more sustainable tourism, while contributing to the improvement of the quality of life of the local population. 

With the start of the works scheduled for October and an estimated duration of nine months, “Nos Salinas, Nos Clima” advances with a clear message: regenerating the salt pans is protecting the climate, valuing the territory and improving the quality of life in Sal Rei.