This 2-year project is one of three Mami Wata Pilot Projects implemented in the Abidjan Convention region in West Africa.

Along with Benin and Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana was selected for the implementation of one of the three Mami Wata Pilot Projects. The “Ecosystem based approach to integrated marine and coastal environment management in Ghana” project was launched July 18 2018 in Accra, and will be carried out starting in Ellembelle in the Western Region until 2020.

Ghana has a coastline of 550km and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of over 218 000 km2, which is key for the country’s economy. The Pilot Project will therefore strengthen national capacity for coastal and marine result-based management, through the development of a State of the Marine Environment (SoME) report, through the identification of Ecologically and Biologically Significant marine Areas (EBSAs), and through the allocation of nature conservation and economic activities based on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP).

Adopting a marine spatial planning approach will enable Ghana applying integrated management tools in an inclusive way, and the process will furthermore contribute achieving Strategic Goal B of the Aichi Targets and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.

The launch of the project was officialized by Mr. Ebenezer Appah-Sampong, Deputy Executive Director of Technical Service of the Environmental Protection Agency, Mr. Richard Dacosta, Programme Officer at the Abidjan Convention, and Mr. Christian Neumann, Programme Leader at GRID-Arendal (Norway).

Mr. Ebenezer Appah-Sampong said the project would help Ghana manage its oceans and ensure effective marine spatial planning, as well as address some of the challenges the sector is currently encountering, such as the excessive human induced pressures on marine resources and conflicts arising over maritime space and resource use.

Christian Neumann added that to apply a wider application of Integrated Ocean Management (IOM) in the Abidjan Convention Region “the project is building technical and institutional capacity through activities that are specially designed to create strong and connected partnerships within and between countries, institutions and stakeholders”. Richard Dacosta added that “experiences that will be drawn from the pilot project will inform policy recommendations at national and regional levels”.

The project will be implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and funded by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety‘s International Climate Initiative (IKI), and will be coordinated by the Abidjan Convention secretariat and GRID-Arendal.

Louis PILLE-SCHNEIDER