The draft report validated by the scientific team during a finalization workshop.

Finalizing the draft report on the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) of Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire, was the objective of the workshop that brought together the 10 members of the MSP scientific team from September 27 to October 2. 2021 in Bonoua.

Indeed, for the conduct of the MSP process, a scientific team has been formed to carry out the activities related to this tool and to elaborate the aforementioned report. The scientific team is composed as follows: a cartographer, a socio-economist, a fisheries specialist, an hydrobiologist, a benthologist, a specialist in maritime affairs, an environmental lawyer, a specialist in environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology, a specialist in petroleum chemistry, environment and sustainable development, and a specialist in marketing communication and management. This team has produced a first draft of the report.

Hence, for five days, the members of the scientific team worked on the validation of the first draft of the MSP report. For Mrs. Marguerite Bekoin, GIAMAA Project Coordinator, “it was important for the scientific team to meet during this finalization workshop in order to collect all the observations, to integrate them and to validate this first draft”, she expressed at the end of the workshop.

This preliminary report was based on documentary research and data from field missions, as well as from various intersectoral consultations organized. The documentary research involved a bibliography consisting mainly of PhD theses and scientific articles relating to the marine and coastal environment of Grand-Bassam, as well as the major activities that take place there. Administrative and technical documents, such as reports of inter-ministerial committees and the report on the State of the Marine Environment (SoME) of Côte d’Ivoire were consulted. The exploitation of these documents concerned the following aspects: the state of the marine and coastal environment of Grand-Bassam, the types and modes of use of the rivers and the sea off Grand-Bassam; the inventory of the major activities carried out in this area, the origin and types of conflicts related to the occupation of marine and coastal spaces, and the systems in place for the settlement of conflicts of use.

The final version of the report on the MSP of Grand-Bassam will be made public shortly.

Charles GNAE

Images: GIAMAA project