The research projects
Agroecology in Vietnam
January 2005 - December 2008
The astounding economic growth of Southeast Asia, and of Vietnam in particular, is not without consequences for the environment. As increasing demands are made on the land, soils are becoming acidified, losing their mineral and organic content and eroding. The nutrients they lose pollute ...
Forecasting water resources in the Sahel for 2050 ?
The Sahel is particularly vulnerable to climate change, and recent changes in its surface water levels have not been the simple, directly result of rainfall trends. Human activity and climate change have a signifi cant impact on the dynamics of surface runoff from the land into streams and ...
Geodynamics of mineral resources in West Africa
January 2006
Mineral resources account for more than 50% of exports from the 19 West African countries involved in the Agremoa programme. They play a crucial role in the region’s development. The IRD and its partners are working to improve understanding of the geological structure and geodynamics of the West ...
Lake Chad : Adapting to a fluctuating resource
Lake Chad, located in the heart of the Sahel strip, is a vital water resource for fishermen, herders and crop farmers in the countries that border its shores − Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon. The lake has undergone enormous changes in recent decades. A multidisciplinary research program ...
Revising the model of trophic cascades in tropical lakes
January 2004
Shallow tropical lakes supply a majority of the water resources for people in the South, but algal and bacterial blooms frequently spoil the water’s quality and jeopardise its use. Because the ecological models developed for temperate lakes cannot be directly transposed to tropical situations, ...
The African monsoon in the spotlight
January 2000
Since 2000, French researchers have launched a vast international multidisciplinary programme to improve understanding of the African monsoon and its variations. In 2006, exceptional resources were mobilised for large-scale field surveys. The African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses programme ...
To halt land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa
January 2003
The IRD is closely involved in the Desert Margins Programme, whose aim is to halt land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa and open the way to sustainable farming there. The programme is supported by the United National Environment Programme and the World Environment Fund. More than 120 million ...
Towards rational water resource management in Morocco
January 2001
The region of Marrakech Tensift-El Haouz in Morocco has a semi-arid climate and must cope with ever-increasing water demand due to population growth, economic development and fastexpanding tourist trade infrastructures. The water available, much of it coming from snowmelt on the Atlas mountains, ...
Understanding flow rate changes in rivers of the Amazon basin
January 2003
The Amazon basin is the world’s largest river basin, covering some six million km². Understanding changes in the flow rate of the Amazon and its tributaries is crucial for local people, whose livelihoods depend on river transport and fishing. The IRD and its partners, who have been studying ...
Water supplies to Mexico City
January 2001
Faced with a severe water supply problem, the Mexico City metro area must exploit new resources, further away from the city each time. Five years ago, IRD researchers and their Mexican partners launched a programme of surveys in the Valle de Bravo basin to study its water regime and water ...
