West African nations create marine protection project

DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) Sep 16, 2003
Nations in the west African coastal zone will create a new integrated network of protected marine areas to address rapidly declining fishing stocks, the World Conservation Unionannounced Tuesday.

"The coastal zone of west Africa, home to 22 million people, who are mainly dependent on small-scale fisheries, is threatened by destruction of habitat and overfishing, largely by modern large-scale fishing fleets from elsewhere in the world," the IUCN said in a media statement released in South Africa.

The Regional Programme for the Conservation of Coastal and Marine Resources involves six governments -- Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal -- and more than 50 organisations.

The project will enjoy management assistance from the IUCN, WWF ecology group, Wetlands International and the Fondation International du Banc d'Arguin (FIBA).

"The programme will link existing marine protected areas, create new ones, and implement a unique regional system of cooperation between government and civil society," the IUCN said at the fifth World Parks Congress under way in the east coast port city of Durban.

Currently, the region is home to nine national parks, 10 nature reserves and two large biosphere reserves.

"These protected areas have for a long time been established by or co-managed with coastal communities," said FIBA spokesman Pierre Campredon.

"They have shown that conservation of resources, for instance the protection of fish stocks, is the best source of development. Regional cooperation can only improve their effectiveness," Campredon added.

An independent environmentalist, Luc Hoffmann, Tuesday announced a contribution of five million euros into the project which requires a total investment of 30 million euros over five years.

The protection of marine areas has been one of the main themes of the 10-day World Parks Congress.

It has drawn 2,500 delegates from more than 170 countries, focusing on how to manage and safeguard the world's 100,000 protected areas.

Although protected areas cover almost 12 percent of the Earth's surface, of which marine sites account for only 0.5 percent.

The congress is expected to set a new target for marine conservation at its closing Wednesday when the "Durban Accord", mapping out objectives for the next 10 years, will be adopted.

TERRA.WIRE