Create freshwater, marine protected areas in the Gulf of Guinea- Stakeholders

Stakeholders in the Freshwater and Marine ecosystems have called for the creation of Freshwater and Marine Protected Areas in Nigeria, the Congo Basin and in the Gulf of Guinea.

The experts in a two-day virtual convergence/webinar conference reviewed the threats to aquatic ecosystems in the region and examined ways of monitoring and protecting them.

Participants at the conference which includes speakers from Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and South Africa and stakeholders made up of fishers, civil society organization members, students and academics shared knowledge and experiences in monitoring and advocating for conservation of the threatened aquatic ecosystem.

The participants established the need to support the preservation of aquatic marine and freshwater ecosystems and livelihoods in the Congo Basin area as well as in the Gulf of Guinea and to empower fishers and other community members to actively monitor and protect their ecosystems.

Speaking at the opening of the convergence, the Director of  Health of Mother Earth Foundation, (HOMEF), Dr. Nnimmo Bassey stressed that “it is time to raise the capacity of our fishers to monitor aquatic ecosystems, share knowledge, map threatened and valuable species, network with other fishers within and across borders.

The stakeholders further resolved that policies on protected areas and conservation approaches must be gender sensitive, socially inclusive and context specific, traditional knowledge and norms should be integrated into all biodiversity conservation processes.

That governments should fund research and institutions/agencies related to freshwater and marine ecosystems and encourage research that address the real challenges faced by fishers and coastal communities. Also that the research outcomes should be fully utilised in policy development and implementation.

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