At the occasion of the 11th edition of the Regional Coastal and Marine Forum, the report on the State of Marine Protected Areas in West Africa 2022 (EdAMP) – the fruit of a collaboration between the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Regional Network of Marine Protected Areas in West Africa and the Observatoire pour la Biodiversité et les Aires Protégées en Afrique de l’Ouest (OBAPAO) – was presented.
Francis co-authored this report alongside other experts over a four-year period. The EdAMP 2022 presents an assessment that brings together data and analyses that has never been compiled in a single book before. This significant milestone for the MPAs of West Africa deals not only with the current situation of the area’s MPAs, but also with issues common to all MPAs in terms of governance, management, financing, uses, including sustainable fishing, and the threats that affect the outputs of MPAs in both short term, such as pollution and extractive and oil industry projects, and in the longer term, including climate change.
The report presents the national MPA networks of the 13 coastal countries of West Africa. By integrating factual information and current data, both in terms of typology, surface areas, distribution of these MPAs and the presentation of key species and habitats associated with them, the EdAMP presents the system of networks of marine protected areas in the region. The report also shares best practices and innovative approaches in the creation, governance and management of MPAs in West Africa.
The report is available in both English and French.
To cite the report: Merceron, T., Clément, T., Gabrié, C., Staub, F., Ba, T., & Traore, M.S. (Eds.)(2024).State of West African marine protected areas 2022. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
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