West Africa Region

Regional Initiatives

• Regional programme for coastal and marine conservation in West Africa - PRCM

  The need to address the issue of management of the coastal and marine zone and its resources at sub-regional level led already in the year 1996 to the establishment of a regional coastal planning network with experts from six countries (from the north to the south; Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde islands, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Guinea). In conjunction with all stakeholder groups – fishers, researchers, managers, government departments, NGOs, funding agencies – a regional strategy was elaborated, with a shared vision of an effective network of MPAs in West Africa. The strategy obtained the official support from the state in the form of a general policy declaration which was signed by 10 the ministers in charge of the protected areas, the environment and the fisheries from the six countries.

   

  The PRCM was launched as a joint initiative and with the technical support of WWF, IUCN, Wetlands International and the International Foundation for the Banc d’Arguin – FIBA. The programme has received the support of the sub-regional fisheries commission – CSRP and of UNESCO; funding has been provided mainly by the private Swiss MAVA foundation and by the Netherlands directorate general for international co-operation – DGIS.

   

  The programme goal is the conservation and sustainable management of the West African marine and coastal natural resources and biodiversity in order to secure the future of the societies. The components in the first phase (2004-2007) were:

  - support for the establishment and co-management of MPAs

  - habitat and species conservation

  - sustainable fisheries management

  - contributing to the development of ecotourism

  - research

  - oil exploitation and habitat quality

  - communication

   

  Today the programme involves seven countries (Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde islands, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Guinea, Sierra Leone). The second phase (2008-2012) involves three main components: conservation (including MPAs, species and habitat conservation), fisheries management and support to ICZM initiatives.

   

  The main achievements up today are mainly:

  - establishment of several new MPAs and of a regional MPA network

  - set up of regional action plans & networks for sharks & rays, sea turtles, manatees, water birds

  - strengthening the capacities of states institutions for fisheries agreement negotiation, transboundary management of shared pelagic fish stocks

  - assessment of long term environmental changes in West African coastal zone;

  - capacity building on ICZM and

  - development of a regional scale lobbying capacity.

• Guinea current LME project: "Combating living resource depletion and coastal area degradation in the Guinea current LME through ecosystem based regional actions"

  Recognizing the negative changes in the health and productivity of the GCLME resulting from human impact and appreciating that living marine resources and pollutants in coastal and marine environments respect no political boundaries and few geographical ones, the countries resolved to work together to address their common concerns. Through various assessments carried out, the countries realized that the traditional sectoral approach to management had failed in bringing about the needed changes in environmental and living resource uses and resolved to adopt a holistic and multisectoral approach embodied in the large marine ecosystem concept. A GEF funded Pilot-PhaseGulf of Guinea Large Marine Ecosystem (GOG LME) Project implying six countries (namely Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo) ran from 1995 – 1999 with the technical assistance of UNIDO, UNDP, UNEP and the US-NOAA. A second phase of an expanded project has been initiated to include 10 additional countries to coincide with the natural limits of the GCLME. Assistance of UNIDO, UNDP, UNEP and GEF has been sought in implementing an LME project called “Combating Living Resources Depletion and Coastal Area Degradation in the Guinea Current LME through Ecosystem-based Regional Actions”

   

  The overall development goals of this project are to 1) recover depleted fish stocks, 2) restore degraded habitat, 3) reduce land and ship-based pollution, and 4) create an ecosystem-wide assessment and management framework for sustainable use of living and non-living resources in the GCLME. The project has five components with the following objectives:

   

  Component I: Undertake strategic planning for concrete actions to develop sustainable fisheries, restore degraded habitats and improve water quality in the GCLME, including the formulation of economic arrangements that will assure the sustainability of the action program

   

  Component II: Establish an ecosystem-wide fisheries monitoring, assessment, and management system, fill technical gaps in understanding the current status of fisheries and take actions to aid in the recovery and sustainable use of living marine resources including development of mariculture in the GCLME

   

  Component III: Undertake strategic planning for conserving biodiversity and integrated coastal management, demonstrate activities to restore priority degraded habitats, and develop strategies for reducing coastal erosion in the GCLME

   

  Component IV: Develop strategic programmes for reducing land and sea-based sources of transboundary pollution and enhance regional ability to address wastes, oil spills, and other major marine pollution incidents

   

  Component V: Create a regional network with broad stakeholder participation and a sustainable institutional structure for addressing identified threats in the GCLME, including the development of a regional ecosystem commission and information system

   

  An interim Commission (IGCC) Guinea Current was established by ministerial declaration in 2006, in order to institutionalize regional cooperation at the technical level. A permanent Guinea Current Commission (GCC) would be constituted and adopted by the countries at Summit (Heads of State and Government) level, to serve as the highest decision making organ during the process of completion and implementation of the full Strategic Action Plan by 2009.

• The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) Programme

  The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) Programme is a multinational cross-sectoral initiative by Angola, Namibia and South Africa to manage the living marine resources of the Benguela Current LME in an integrated and sustainable manner and to protect the marine environment. It is funded by GEF under its International Waters portfolio and is implemented by the UNDP.

   

  The Programme has run for six years - from 2002 to January 2008. It is designed to address transboundary problems in three key areas of activity: the sustainable management and utilisation of living resources; the assessment of environmental variability, ecosystem impacts and improvement of predictability; and maintenance of ecosystem health and management of pollution.

   

  One of the main objectives of the activity centres has been to develop and implement projects in the areas of biodiversity, ecosystem health, pollution, marine resources and environmental variability. The projects have been implemented by a wide variety of clients, including government institutes, universities, private consultancies…

   

  The Transboundary Diagnosic Analysis has identified a number of important transboundary problems in the BCLME. These include inter alia, non optimal harvesting of living resources, uncertainty about ecosystem status and yields in a highly variable environment, deterioration of water quality, habitat destruction and alteration, loss of biotic integrity and threats to biodiversity, harmful algal blooms, introduction of non-indigenous species and inadequate regional capacity (human and infrastructure).

   

  One of the main goals of the BCLME Programme was to create a Benguela Current Commission (BCC) which should be an effective long-term structure at both regional and national levels, that will support and sustain the joint transboundary management of the BCLME by Angola, Namibia and South Africa to implement an “ecosystem approach” to managing the BCLME and to tackle transboundary environmental issues such as pollution, the management of shared fish stocks and the coordination of regional efforts to mitigate the impacts of marine mining and oil and gas production on the environment.

   

  The Programme has been successful in developing regional partnerships in support of transboundary LME resource management, and in capturing accurate knowledge on ecosystem functions and trends. Also, the activities supported by the BCLME Programme have made a significant contribution to capacity building and knowledge enhancement as well as successfully capturing vital information necessary for an integrated, ecosystem based approach to LME management. Furthermore, regional collaboration at both the public and private sector levels has been significantly strengthened. An Interim Ministerial Agreement on the establishment of the Benguela Current Commission (BCC) was signed in July 2007.

• Sylvia Earle Alliance - Hope Spots

  Hope Spots are special places that are critical to the health of the ocean, Earth's blue heart. Some of these Hope Spots are already protected, while others are important enough that it is imperative that they be protected. About 12% of the land around the world is now under some form of protection (as national parks, world heritage sites, monuments, etc.), while less than one percent of the ocean is protected in any way.