Benin is continuing its work towards a better integrated management of its marine and coastal area.

From March 3-5, 2021, as part of the Integrated Marine and Coastal Area Management (GIZMaC) project, a national workshop on the implementation of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) was organized in Cotonou, Benin. This workshop followed the identification of two Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) – in Donaten and Togbin Daho-Bouche du Roy Avlo respectively, the production of the State of the Marine Environment Report (SoME), and preliminary work undertaken to develop Benin’s capacity in marine spatial planning and marine protected areas.

The Cotonou workshop is also part of a series of activities implemented around MSP in Benin.These include the training of stakeholders on the process leading to MSP, the organization of the preparatory meeting for the implementation of MSP, the identification of the Authority to lead the process (the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development), the completion of the stakeholder identification and categorization matrix, the organization of the process (pre-planning), as well as the completion of the marine use conflict matrix.

The Cotonou workshop was attended by actors involved in ocean management, namely: representatives from the Ministries of Environment and Sustainable Development, of Agriculture, of Tourism, and of Interior, but also scientific research, the maritime prefecture, the naval forces, local authorities, NGOs, professional organizations (e.g. fishmongers, fishermen, etc.), as well as representatives from the Ecological Monitoring Centre of Dakar, and from the Abidjan Convention. The report should be published in the coming weeks.

Louis PILLE-SCHNEIDER

Images: Abidjan Convention Secretariat