Group photo of participants at the launch of the Pilot Regional Marine Spatial Planning (MarEcoPlan) Project in Togo.
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Lomé, Togo: 31 August 2024
The MarEcoPlan project is being jointly implemented by FCWC and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Lomé, Togo – The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), an intergovernmental regional fisheries advisory body headquartered in Tema, Ghana, launched a pilot regional marine spatial planning project it is jointly implementing with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) during an inception workshop at the Onomo Hotel on 29 August 2024.
The project titled Using Marine Spatial Planning in the Gulf of Guinea for the Implementation of Payment for Ecosystem Services and Coastal Nature-based Solutions (MarEcoPlan) is a 3-year, 3-million-dollar pilot project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) being implemented in three of the FCWC Member States (Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo).
The project aims to strengthen cooperation and transboundary management of coastal and marine resources and associated ecosystems to enhance food security, resilience to climate change, and sustainable livelihoods in the FCWC region. The project plans to generate increased benefits for fisheries and coastal communities through improved ecosystem management using Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). Additionally, funds generated through Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) will be used to enhance livelihoods and contribute to coastal and marine restoration and protection.
The inception workshop was organized to establish the status of MSP in the region, present a workplan for validation and share the Terms of Reference for the national working groups that will be created under this project.
FCWC Secretary-General, Dr. Antoine Gaston Djihinto in remarks at the opening ceremony of the inception workshop called for all stakeholders to seize the opportunity to achieve both environmental and economic objectives through strengthened cooperation and transboundary management. “The implementation of this project is not limited to national actions but is also part of a broader framework. It makes it possible to implement the commitments of global and regional instruments in terms of environmental protection, biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management,” he stated.
Project Coordinator, Kossi Ahoedo has noted that this project is a key step in achieving concerted efforts to address the challenges of the numerous agreements and conventions adopted for collective action against marine habitat degradation.
Renaud Bailleux, Regional Marine and Coastal Programme Coordinator at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) emphasised that the MSP component of the project builds on earlier work to harmonize the use of marine spaces in the region. He called for greater attention to the project’s transboundary and multisectoral nature.
The project supports Intervention Area 1 from the FCWC’s Strategic Action Plan 2021-2030, to implement a Regional Fisheries Resources Management Plan (RFRMP).
Background
The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) is an intergovernmental body established in 2007, with a Secretariat hosted in Tema, Ghana. The FCWC facilitates cooperation in fisheries management between its member countries: Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. The countries have several shared fish stocks and identified a need for cooperation and shared management of these resources.
