Ferlo, Sahel, Senegal. Traditional nomadic grazing in a semi-arid environment with a sparse forest cover is well adapted to relatively low productive land and to high interannual variability of rainfall. Socio-economic drivers force an increasing trend to permanent settlements, creating environmental pressures that often push the landscape beyond its resilience.

The main characteristics of the Ferlo site are summarised hereafter:

Site name	FERLO
Information Providers	Abdoulaye FAYE ; Jacques André NDIONE Centre de Suivi Ecologique pour la Gestion des Ressources Naturelles (CSE)
Site location
Location	N 14º 22'46" & 16°12'51"- W 12º 36'10" &16°30'33"
Province	Louga, Linguère et Matam
Region	Louga et Matam
Country	Senegal
General conditions
Altitude range	-10 m ; +110 m
Climate	Average precipitation (Linguere 1961-1990, mm/y): 401.1 Average temperature (Linguere 1961-1990, °C/y): 28.8°C
Topography	Flat 60%, gentle 30%, rough 10%
Rock type	Sand and Gley
Land cover	2.3% of natural / planted forest, 88.4% of shrub land and grassland, 9.2% of agricultural areas
Land Use	Cropland 9.2%, woodland 20.8%, savanna and steppe 64%, others 6%
Land condition	Approx. () % of very degraded and () % of little degraded land
Local contacts	Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE) Inspection régionale des Eaux et Forêts de Louga Inspection régionale des Services Vétérinaires de Louga Service régional de l'hydraulique de Louga Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA) Agence Nationale de la Grande Muraille Verte
Appraisal
Of what the site is representative in your context?	This site is a typical sylvo-pastoral area characterized by the weakness and strong rainfall variability. It is essentially dedicated to pastoral farming system but some activities related to agriculture are remaining. In fact, Ferlo in facing very significant eco-environment vulnerability, degraded vegetation in rangeland, intensification of agricultural in old peanut basin. Drought, overgrazing and bush fires are contributing to desertification in Ferlo area.
Which is the relevance of applying DeSurvey to the site?	DeSurvey could help to understand the relation between land degradation, land use vulnerability, and agricultural policies and farmers attitudes.
Might the site be complementary of other conditions?	It is a complement to the ecological Senegal Valley zone for monitoring the changes in vegetation in north Senegal and dry lands on the strip from Atlantic ocean to northeast of Senegal.
Might the site allow comparative analysis with other sites?	It's not quite realistic to make a comparison between the typical grassland in the Ferlo and cropland ecosystem in the peanut basin in the south. The Ferlo eco-geographical zone, has its specificities therefore
Which is the relative impact of policy/subsidized market and subsistence economy on land use structure?	Land use policy had put good impacts on the land use change in Ferlo. During the last 10 years, planted forest and basin of retention becomes the major factor manipulating the changes of land use.
Which are the potential users of DeSurvey products in the site?	The Government, local land management authorities, and Research Institutes and Universities.
Research projects in the site	LADA, Land degradation assessment in drylands The Green Great Wall project, Grande Muraille Verte AZILA, Arab Gum Company AMMA, African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses ROSELT, Réseau d'obersvatoires de surveillance écologique à long terme ECLIS, Environnement, Climat et Société The outputs of all these projects could complete or validate the DeSurvey methods.