by: A.C.S.I. onlus - Associazione Culturale Senegalesi in Italia | data 02/10/2026
Hann Bay, on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal, was once considered one of the most beautiful beaches in West Africa. Today, beneath the surface, the seabed is almost empty. The fish that once swam just a few dozen meters from the shore have gone, driven out to sea by waste, mostly plastic, and industrial discharge that has suffocated their habitat. As a result, fishermen now have to venture ever further out to fish, taking greater and greater risks to earn less and less.
We want to change course. As an association of the Senegalese diaspora in Italy, we want to give back to the bay what has been taken from it: a living ecosystem. We have decided to take action in the communities of Hann-Yarakh, Thiaroye-sur-Mer and Rufisque with a series of activities that will directly contribute to regenerating coastal ecosystems and marine fauna, and to strengthening the environmental awareness of local communities, the first guardians of the coast. These include environmental education training for fishermen and women working in the fishing supply chain, educational workshops for students that use art (photography, slam poetry, music, urban art, and more) to reflect on the link between the environment, climate change and the protection of the sea and cleanup and regeneration of beaches and seabeds, including the installation of artificial coral reefs. Artificial marine reefs, already tested in Hann Bay, help regenerate marine ecosystems. Their structure offers shelter to algae and small organisms, allowing them to settle and thrive, and so leads to the return of plant and animal species that had disappeared. Imagine a submerged structure, carefully placed on a barren seabed: within a few weeks it begins to be covered in algae, then the first tiny organisms arrive, and finally, little by little, the fish, first the small ones and then the larger ones. An ecosystem is being reborn, a piece of the sea breathing again.
It is for the reefs that we need you!
What exactly will the funds raised in this campaign be used for? They will go toward designing the reefs, purchasing the materials to build them, and installing them in the three areas.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental organization of the United Nations, recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development and has for years chosen to invest in diaspora associations as drivers of local development. This year it believed in our project and chose us. IOM has committed to mobilizing €60,000 for all the other activities, but only if together we manage to raise the €6,000 needed to build and install the reefs by November 14, 2026. Every euro donated will be a brick in this new underwater home. But it is also more than that: it is the key that unlocks the entire project. For every euro you donate, IOM will contribute 10, with the goal of bringing life back to Hann Bay and giving hope to the communities of fishermen and women fish processors who live there.
The idea is not to create something from scratch, but to believe in and invest in what already exists. In Hann Bay, community associations such as Hann BayKeeper, together with groups of fishermen, civil society organizations and environmental activists, have been promoting beach and seabed cleanups, public awareness campaigns and the protection of natural resources for years. As the Association of Senegalese in Italy, we have decided to support local initiatives and, in this case, to do so by helping to strengthen the environmental protection efforts already under way, through training, restoration of coastal ecosystems, installation of artificial reefs, reforestation and monitoring.
When fish return to populate the bay's seabed, the first to benefit will be the people themselves: fishermen who will no longer have to risk their lives venturing far offshore, women in the fish-processing chain with more fish to process and sell, and young people who will see a possible future in their own sea — rather than yet another reason to attempt the migration crossing to the Canary Islands.
Think what it would mean for a student to learn about the importance of marine ecosystems through a rap rhythm, or by building a work of art together from recycled materials. We're asking you to believe in that too!
The project will involve:
Looking at the bigger picture, the project will benefit the entire coastal community of around 100,000 people.
We are the Cultural Association of Senegalese in Italy (A.C.S.I.), which since 1995 has been committed to promoting initiatives of solidarity, co-development and cooperation between Italy and Senegal.
For many of us and our families, Hann Bay is home. We remember a white sand beach dotted with the pirogues of our grandfathers, who had been fishermen for generations, and a sea teeming with fish on which the local economy depended. Since the 1970s, all of that has changed: uncontrolled urbanization has turned the beach into an open-air dump, and industrial discharge from the large companies along the coast has polluted the waters, which are no longer safe for swimming and increasingly poor in fish. That is why we decided not to wait any longer and to act to bring the bay back to life.
Over the years, we have supported a number of initiatives in Senegal in the fields of education, health, access to drinking water, agricultural development and food security, working with local associations, communities and territorial authorities. This time, we decided that the priority should be marine regeneration: it is through this that the fish will return and, with them, fishing and the coastal economy.
And this time, we are grateful to be able to do it properly, with the technical support of LVIA, an Italian NGO that has been present in Senegal for over 60 years. The environment has been one of the main cross-cutting pillars of its work in the country for decades. As early as the 1990s, LVIA helped launch Proplast, a pioneering plastic recovery and recycling initiative, setting in motion a path that has since grown to include environmental education, circular economy and sustainable resource management, alongside support for employment and entrepreneurship among young people and women. Today, LVIA works alongside local authorities, schools, civil society organizations and communities, promoting awareness-raising programs and concrete action for environmental protection and sustainable development.
15 € - Friend of the sea - A digital postcard from the students of the bay. You will receive a photo taken by young people during the environmental education workshops in schools, together with a thank-you from the communities.
30 € - Beach keeper - Fund a cleanup day. With €30, you support a team of volunteers in Hann, Thiaroye-sur-Mer or Rufisque. In return, you will receive a personalized video to thank you from the volunteers themselves.
50 € - Bay guardian – Adopt a coastal tree A tree will be planted in your name in Hann Bay. You will receive a personalized email to thank you with a digital certificate and a photo of the area. We will also send you a small bag of bissap (dried hibiscus) to make infusions and herbal teas.
100 € - Seabed guardian – Adopt a square meter of reef You will receive a dedicated photo of the reef module you have funded and, after 6 months, an update on how marine life is colonizing it. We will also send you an upcycled bag, a one-of-a-kind piece made from reused local materials.
250 € - Stories from the Bay - You will receive an exclusive digital photo report on the work to restore the coastline and the activities of the young people trained through the project, along with an original playlist of songs and slam poetry created by the participants. We will also send you an upcycled bag, a one-of-a-kind piece made from reused local materials.
500 € - Community ally - For businesses and organizations that want to showcase their commitment. You will support the regeneration of Hann Bay and the coastlines of Thiaroye-sur-Mer and Rufisque and, in return, you will receive:
Visibility on our social media: a personalized thank-you on our social pages, featuring your logo and the story of your commitment;
An impact report: at the end of the project, you will receive the results of the research and data collected in the field by the researcher who will follow the entire project cycle, so you can document the contribution you made;
A final online meeting with ACSI, LVIA and the local volunteer associations, to get to know the people and the results you have made possible, to which you can invite your entire staff.
Free Donation – Your contribution can make a difference! Every contribution counts! Your donation will help bring Hann Bay back to its former splendor, supporting a project that looks to the future and to the protection of this precious place. Every free donation will receive a personalized thank-you, along with the satisfaction of having helped make our project a reality.
Chi siamo Siamo l'Associazione Culturale Senegalesi in Italia (A.C.S.I.), una realtà che fa da ponte tra Italia e Senegal. Dal 1995 promuoviamo progetti di solidarietà e cooperazione tra i due paesi, lavorando insieme alle comunità locali. Da oltre trent'anni, insieme alle comunità locali Con associazioni, comunità e autorità territoriali del Senegal abbiamo realizzato interventi per chi ha più bisogno: • Istruzione e salute: diritti di base per le popolazioni più vulnerabili • Acqua potabile: perché l'acqua pulita non sia un privilegio • Agricoltura e sicurezza alimentare: sostegno ai gruppi di produttori e alle donne che trasformano i prodotti alimentari, e nascita di unità di trasformazione del latte per valorizzare le produzioni locali • Banco Alimentare: dal 2015 con il Banco Alimentare portiamo cibo alle famiglie in difficoltà e combattiamo lo spreco Ora tocca al mare Grazie al corso "Diaspora for Climate Action and Food Security" (D4CAFS), promosso da OIM e dedicato alle diaspore senegalesi e ghanesi in Italia, abbiamo imparato a trasformare l'amore per il nostro Paese in azione climatica. Da lì è nato questo progetto: restituire vita alla Baie de Hann. Sappiamo costruire partenariati tra Italia e Senegal e coinvolgere le comunità locali. Ci manca solo il tuo aiuto per far tornare i pesci.
