The sustainable management of marine and coastal resources at the center of the exchanges during this second workshop aimed at the validation of the SoME report.
As part of the implementation of the activities of the Integrated Management of the Marine and Coastal Area from Abidjan to Assinie (GIAMAA) Project, the Ivorian Anti-Pollution Center (CIAPOL), a structure under the supervision of the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, in partnership with the West African Coastal Zone Resilience Investment Project (WACA ResIP) of Côte d’Ivoire, and with the Abidjan Convention Secretariat, organized the pre-validation workshop of the State of the Marine Environment (SoME) report of Côte d’Ivoire from Thursday 24 to Friday 25 September 2020 at ENOTEL in San Pedro. The objective of this workshop was to submit the SoME report to the local elected officials, to the prefectural body and to stakeholders of the Gboklè and San Pedro regions for approval, and to collect their observations and recommendations.
The participants, including members of the prefectural body, local elected officials, representatives of mayors and regional councils, customary authorities, NGOs, private sector actors involved in the marine environment, and several state structures of the San-Pedro and Gbokle regions, examined this report over two days, following which recommendations were made to enrich it. Produced by a Cabinet of experts of the Ivorian Association of Agronomic Sciences (AISA) chaired by Professor Célestin Atse Boua, the SoME report presents the state of the environment and the social aspects of the marine and coastal areas.
Professor Ossey Bernard Yapo, Deputy Director of the Central Environmental Laboratory and representative of the Director of the Ivorian Anti-Pollution Centre (CIAPOL), indicated that this document is important and will be used in the process of drawing up the Integrated Coastal Development and Management Plan (PAGIL). As for the representative of the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mrs. Kalidja Kouakou Kouame, Prefect of the Department of Tabou, she indicated that the socio-economic development of the region depends greatly on the marine environment, and especially on the presence of the Port, and of other tourist and seaside activities taking place in the area. For her, “the management measures that will be taken must contribute to unlock the full economic potential of this environment”. She therefore proposes an environmental assessment that would fill the gap between the decisions taken so far and the lack of information necessary for their proper orientation.
This second pre-validation workshop, initiated after the one in Assinie (September 21 and 22) will be followed by a national workshop to be held on September 28 and 29 in Grand-Bassam to finalize the validation phase of the SoME report for Côte d’Ivoire.
Charles GNAE
Image: GIAMAA Project