Dakar, Senegal (IUCN) - Six West-African countries and fifty conservation, research and development organizations have agreed to work together on marine and coastal conservation at a high-level conference in Dakar, Senegal last Friday.
Ten Ministers of Environment and Fisheries from Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal approved the new 'Regional Strategy for Marine Protected Areas in West Africa', which will lead to a wide array of actions at a cost of EUR30 million over five years.
"Our regional marine biodiversity is extremely threatened, particularly so given the current overexploitation of our fisheries. This Strategy will allow everyone in the region to address this issue and implement urgently-needed remedial measures", said HE Ahmedou Ould Ahmedou, Minister of Fisheries for Mauritania and current President of the Subregional Fisheries Commission (SRFC).
The goal of the Strategy is to improve the management of marine and coastal resources to optimise their contribution to social, economic and environmental security, sustained livelihoods and biodiversity conservation.
"All partners share the same vision and principles for achieving sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in the coastal zone. This will now allow efficient, cost-effective and highly beneficial synergies and exchanges of information among tens of different institutions responsible for managing resources over 3,500 km of coastline" said Pierre Campredon, Executive Secretary of FIBA and leader for the production of the Strategy.
Approximately 60% of the 22 million people in the six countries of West Africa live on the coast and depend mostly on fisheries. Fisheries in Mauritania for example make up 12% of its GDP and 50% of its foreign exchange earnings. Fish also contributes directly to more than 60% of animal protein intake in the region.
Overfishing along the West African coast threatens local livelihoods and biodiversity, exacerbated by the destruction of fish spawning areas on the coast. To protect invaluable fish stocks, several Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have already been established along the coastline by West African states, chiefly state members of the SRFC.
These areas preserve some of the coast, but the protection and replenishment of fisheries resources and biodiversity in the West African subregion requires much larger efforts.
The coalition will work on key recommendations of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), mainly to establish an efficient network of national or transboundary Marine Protected Areas, to restore fisheries to sustainable levels, to preserve the know-how and cultural heritage of local communities, and to develop ecotourism.
The Strategy is the result of intense collaboration between IUCN - The World Conservation Union, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wetlands International, the International Foundation for the Banc d'Arguin (FIBA), UNESCO and the SRFC.
Another fifty organisations have pledged active support to its implementation. Representatives of scientific institutions, governmental agencies and international development organisations agreed to provide broad technical and financial support towards implementation of the Regional Strategy.
All participants agreed that the Strategy provides a totally new and concerted framework that gives donors' investments a much higher coherence, efficiency and visibility. "Such a practical framework is most welcome and comes at a time when donors want to establish clear partnerships amongst themselves to support regionally-agreed priorities for conservation and sustainable use" says Mr Huub Buise, Chief of Cooperation for the Royal Netherlands Embassy and Chairperson of the meeting.
Participants agreed on a final statement, which calls for overall support towards further development of the Regional Strategy. The Communiqué is available from the IUCN website ( http://www.iucn.org ).
For more information
Please contact Ibrahim Thiaw, Regional Director for West Africa, IUCN Regional Office for West Africa, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Email: ibrahim.thiaw@iucn.org
For a copy of the Regional Strategy and Programme (available on CD-Rom in French, English and Portuguese), please contact Ibrahima Niamadio, Programme Officer, RMPC, at ibrahima.niamadio@iucn.org
About IUCN
Created in 1948, IUCN - The World Conservation Union brings together 75 States, 108 government agencies, over 750 NGOs, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. IUCN's mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
IUCN is the world's largest environmental knowledge network and has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. IUCN is a multicultural, multilingual organization with 1000 staff located in 42 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland.
------
Elroy Bos
Communication Officer
Wetlands and Water Resources Programme
IUCN - The World Conservation Union
Rue Mauverney 28 - CH 1196 - Gland (CH)
http://www.iucn.org/themes/wetlands/ - http://www.waterandnature.org/
Ten Ministers of Environment and Fisheries from Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal approved the new 'Regional Strategy for Marine Protected Areas in West Africa', which will lead to a wide array of actions at a cost of EUR30 million over five years.
"Our regional marine biodiversity is extremely threatened, particularly so given the current overexploitation of our fisheries. This Strategy will allow everyone in the region to address this issue and implement urgently-needed remedial measures", said HE Ahmedou Ould Ahmedou, Minister of Fisheries for Mauritania and current President of the Subregional Fisheries Commission (SRFC).
The goal of the Strategy is to improve the management of marine and coastal resources to optimise their contribution to social, economic and environmental security, sustained livelihoods and biodiversity conservation.
"All partners share the same vision and principles for achieving sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in the coastal zone. This will now allow efficient, cost-effective and highly beneficial synergies and exchanges of information among tens of different institutions responsible for managing resources over 3,500 km of coastline" said Pierre Campredon, Executive Secretary of FIBA and leader for the production of the Strategy.
Approximately 60% of the 22 million people in the six countries of West Africa live on the coast and depend mostly on fisheries. Fisheries in Mauritania for example make up 12% of its GDP and 50% of its foreign exchange earnings. Fish also contributes directly to more than 60% of animal protein intake in the region.
Overfishing along the West African coast threatens local livelihoods and biodiversity, exacerbated by the destruction of fish spawning areas on the coast. To protect invaluable fish stocks, several Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have already been established along the coastline by West African states, chiefly state members of the SRFC.
These areas preserve some of the coast, but the protection and replenishment of fisheries resources and biodiversity in the West African subregion requires much larger efforts.
The coalition will work on key recommendations of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), mainly to establish an efficient network of national or transboundary Marine Protected Areas, to restore fisheries to sustainable levels, to preserve the know-how and cultural heritage of local communities, and to develop ecotourism.
The Strategy is the result of intense collaboration between IUCN - The World Conservation Union, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wetlands International, the International Foundation for the Banc d'Arguin (FIBA), UNESCO and the SRFC.
Another fifty organisations have pledged active support to its implementation. Representatives of scientific institutions, governmental agencies and international development organisations agreed to provide broad technical and financial support towards implementation of the Regional Strategy.
All participants agreed that the Strategy provides a totally new and concerted framework that gives donors' investments a much higher coherence, efficiency and visibility. "Such a practical framework is most welcome and comes at a time when donors want to establish clear partnerships amongst themselves to support regionally-agreed priorities for conservation and sustainable use" says Mr Huub Buise, Chief of Cooperation for the Royal Netherlands Embassy and Chairperson of the meeting.
Participants agreed on a final statement, which calls for overall support towards further development of the Regional Strategy. The Communiqué is available from the IUCN website ( http://www.iucn.org ).
For more information
Please contact Ibrahim Thiaw, Regional Director for West Africa, IUCN Regional Office for West Africa, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Email: ibrahim.thiaw@iucn.org
For a copy of the Regional Strategy and Programme (available on CD-Rom in French, English and Portuguese), please contact Ibrahima Niamadio, Programme Officer, RMPC, at ibrahima.niamadio@iucn.org
About IUCN
Created in 1948, IUCN - The World Conservation Union brings together 75 States, 108 government agencies, over 750 NGOs, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. IUCN's mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
IUCN is the world's largest environmental knowledge network and has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. IUCN is a multicultural, multilingual organization with 1000 staff located in 42 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland.
------
Elroy Bos
Communication Officer
Wetlands and Water Resources Programme
IUCN - The World Conservation Union
Rue Mauverney 28 - CH 1196 - Gland (CH)
http://www.iucn.org/themes/wetlands/ - http://www.waterandnature.org/