Senegal losing its coastline

Ndeye Yacine Dieng looked helplessly at the dilapidated state of her once large and inviting home, the latest victim of the encroaching sea in Bargny, on Senegal's western Atlantic coast.

Cracked and collapsed walls, damaged roofs and sunken buildings are commonplace in the town just outside the capital Dakar, in one of the areas most threatened by rising sea levels in the West African country.

Creeping coastal erosion stalks the locals, who fear their homes will soon disappear if nothing is done to stop the tide.

Senegal loses 0.5 to 2 metres of coastline every year, the environment ministry says, pointing to rising sea levels, surface water runoff, sand extraction from beaches and coastal construction.