KNOWLEDGE SHEET 10C | POLITICAL  WEST AFRICA’S REGIONAL OCEAN: THE GOVERNMENTS ROLE KNOWLEDGE SHEET 10C | POLITICAL The Governments Role in Developing West Africa’s Regional Ocean Sustainably Engaging Public Institutions on Sustainable Development of West Africa’s Ocean W est Africa has enormous potential, greater than that of any other African region, for natural gas and oil exports. Net natural gas exports from West Africa are envisaged to grow at a robust average annual rate of 6.5% from 2012 to 2040 (IEO 2016). • Taxes, tariffs, export revenues and quota • There has been a regional strategy for marine fees from fisheries in West Africa could make protected areas (MPAs), which has led to the a key difference to the region’s development, establishment of a regional network of MPAs however correct government enforcement is in 2007 in West Africa. required. • Most of the benefit to West Africa from fish- The Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa provides ing exports is generated through the sale of economic and social benefits to many people that live fishing rights to foreign operators and not along or near the coast. However, the ocean is under from the sale of fish caught (Daniels et al. 2016). threat from increased human activities and accelerated • Investing in local fishing vessels and compa- climatic changes. There are enormous economic and nies will more than double the benefit to thus social benefits to be gained through developing local economies than selling fishing licenses sustainably the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa. There is would (Daniels et al. 2016). potential for new legislation and policies to be brought in to aid the management of the fisheries sector in • Fish numbers in West Africa have reduced a holistic way and to form part of Marine Protected due to overfishing by up to 50% and that Areas. Controlling fishing and other human impacts (oil revenue lost from illegal or un-reported fish and gas exploration and drilling; tourism; construction; catches amounts to USD$ 1.3 billion annually ports etc.) in the marine environment requires urgent (Africa Progress Panel, 2014). government intervention. This applies not only to controlling illegal, unreported and over fishing but also to reduce industrial and urban pollution, monitoring 1 KNOWLEDGE SHEET 10C | POLITICAL  WEST AFRICA’S REGIONAL OCEAN: THE GOVERNMENTS ROLE Through Government Action, the West African fishing industry can bring greater benefit to the local area. Infographic: Overseas Development Institute the impacts of infrastructure works, reducing coastal illegal, unreported and overfishing. It is estimated that erosion, mangrove destruction and regulating oil and gas West African states could generate as much as USD$ explorations and drilling. Examples of best solutions from 3.3 billion and 300,000 jobs, if national fleets are used to other areas show how government intervention can make catch and export fish as opposed to granting international positive changes to current damaging practices and to licenses which generates only $400 million per year for develop the Ocean in an economically sustainable way. the entire West African region (FAO, 2014). For example in Senegal, foreign fishing permits were rescinded in Senegal’s Exclusive Economic Zone, a 158-square kilometer area of ocean dedicated to commercial fishing. As a result small-scale fishers were able to recover economically. Greater inter-sector cooperation and a holistic approach to fisheries beyond that of the traditional fisheries sector governance and value-chains can be implemented to address the broader issues of land-based habitat and biodiversity loss. EXAMPLE OF BEST PRACTICE The graph shows net natural gas exports from West Africa indicating robust growth from 2012 to 2040 (different colored bars). Source: International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016) A number of MPAs exist in the Mediterranean region however over the years there has been little communication and exchange between Potential Solutions them. Therefore a network was set up to improve the effectiveness of these MPAs. The network: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can be used for • Promotes the sharing of experiences and good experimental approaches to design the ideal governance practices amongst managers; and participation models in the fields of fisheries, tourism • Suggests solutions to management problems and energy, that provide sustainable services to local of marine protected areas; coastal communities (FCA, 2003). The sustainability of • Improves the capacity of managers; conservation measures depends on the support provided • Makes the role of marine protected areas known by national level guidelines, policies and legislation. to a wider audience; These policies and legislations should be extended to • Disseminates messages common to all marine the fishing sector, where fisheries should be regulated protected areas in the region. and these regulations should be enforced to deal with 2 KNOWLEDGE SHEET 10C | POLITICAL  WEST AFRICA’S REGIONAL OCEAN: THE GOVERNMENTS ROLE A key lesson learnt from this experience was that associations for nature conservation do not have the geo-political complexities of the region and its the same perception of the regional MPA operation disparate cultures often delayed the proper execution (Weigel et al 2011). Therefore an updated effective of the agreed commitments. However, management regional network of MPAs in West Africa with and coordination of all the MPA actions and the participative management by strong institutions, engagement of the MPA stakeholders in the area engagement of all stakeholders in the planning and has vastly improved thanks to the implementation implementation of the MPAs will aid in contributing of an improved MPA network. The Regional Marine to the sustainable development of the region by Protected Areas Network in West Africa (RAMPAO enhancing natural and cultural diversity. – Réseau Régional d’Aires Marine Protegées en Afrique de l’Ouest) can learn from this experience in Governments can take the initiative to mitigate that most benefactors of the RAMPAO are currently against the effects of climate change in the marine not convinced of the meaning and implementation environment off the coast of West Africa, examples of the regional MPAs. Motivations differ among have shown that through good governance and actors involved. Fishers, traders and artisans, tourism coordination poor practices can be halted and greater operators, central authorities, local dignitaries and economic and social welfare can be gained. REFERENCES • Africa Progress Panel (2014) Grain, fish, money: • International Finance Corporation, “Building the financing Africa’s green and blue revolutions. Africa Private Sector in Africa to Reduce Poverty and Improve Progress Report 2014. People’s Lives”, Washington, 2001. • Daniels, A., Gutiérrez, M., Fanjul, G., Guereña, A., • SFC (Subregional Fisheries Commission). 2003. Regional Strategy For Marine Protected Areas in Matheson, I. and Watkins, K. (2016) Western Africa’s West Africa. http://www.fibarguin.org/var/plain/ missing fish. Overseas Development Institute. storage/original/application/b5cbded23840211c- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Miren_ cdf9d60838afb302.pdf Gutierrez/publication/304566790_Western_Africas_ • Weigel, Jean-Yves, François Feral, and Bertrand Missing_Fish/links/5773786708aeef01a0b6691f.pdf Cazalet. 2011. Governance of Marine Protected Areas • International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO 2016) www. in the Least-Developed Countries. Case Studies from eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/pdf/0484(2016).pdf West Africa. The West Africa Coastal Areas Management Program (WACA) is a convening platform that aims to assist West African countries to sustainably manage their coastal areas and enhance socio-economic resilience to the effects of climate change. The program also seeks to facilitate access to technical expertise and financial resources for participating countries. www.worldbank.org/waca 3