Read the passage below carefully:
For generations, artisanal salt harvesters on the shores of Lake Retba in Senegal have extracted mineral-rich salt crusts using wooden poles and manual buckets. However, over the past decade, severe drought and unseasonal heavy rainfalls have destabilized the lake’s high salinity levels, threatening the unique micro-algae responsible for both its distinctive pink hue and the rapid crystallization of salt. In response, local cooperative leaders have resisted calls from foreign commercial firms to introduce mechanical dredgers. The leaders argue that heavy machinery would disrupt the fragile lakebed ecosystem and displace thousands of local women whose livelihood depends on manual collection. Instead, the cooperatives have implemented strict seasonal harvesting quotas and established a community-managed watershed management zone to reduce freshwater runoff during storms. While this decision has temporarily capped short-term profit margins, it has stabilized salt quality and ensured that local pricing power remains in the hands of the indigenous gatherers rather than industrial exporters.
Based on the passage, which of the following best expresses the underlying rationale behind the cooperative leaders' decision to reject mechanical dredging?
- They prioritized long-term ecological and socio-economic sustainability over maximum immediate profits.Answer
- BThey aimed to eliminate all international commercial trade to reserve salt exclusively for domestic consumption.
- CThey believed that mechanical dredgers were technically incapable of extracting salt from deep lakebeds.
- DTheir primary decision was motivated solely by a desire to preserve the aesthetic pink color of the lake for tourism.