In Côte d'Ivoire, the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem was celebrated in Niega in the department of Sassandra by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through the Coastal Fisheries Initiative in West Africa (CFI-WA).
Dr Yacoub Issola of the Abidjan Convention, coordinator of the mangrove component of the IPC-AO project, seized this important opportunity to invite all localities in Côte d'Ivoire with mangroves to follow the successful model of the village of Niéga. “Unlike other villages in Sassandra, Niega is one of the villages that has been able to preserve its mangroves in their natural state because of its habits and customs. We have therefore chosen this village to host the first edition of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem to encourage and show our appreciation to the local people for their efforts to protect this unique, special and fragile ecosystem,” he said.
Mr. Lamine Coulibaly, Prefect of the Gbôklè region, Prefect of the Sassandra department invited the women of the region to contribute to the preservation of mangroves by putting an end to the use of mangroves for smoking fish.
In order to encourage the people of Niega to continue their efforts to conserve the mangrove and keep the village clean, they received from the ICP-AO project, a large batch of maintenance equipment of 132 items consisting of wheelbarrows, dustbins, boots, rakes, machetes and shovels worth an estimated 3,500,000 CFA francs. The donation was presented in the presence of many administrative authorities, including the departmental director of the Ministry of Water and Forests, which oversees mangrove management.
In 2000-2020, mangrove forests increased by 2.72% on the project sites in Senegal, while they decreased by 10% in Côte d'Ivoire.
On the fringes of this official celebration, a workshop on the restitution of several studies on mangroves carried out by the IPC-AO project was organised in the conference room of the Sassandra landing stage in the presence of some forty stakeholders including artisanal fishermen and women fish processors.
These studies, carried out over the period 2000-2020, revealed that mangrove forests increased by 2.72% on the IPC-AO project sites in Senegal, while they decreased by 10% in Côte d'Ivoire.
The studies also listed the factors of destruction as agriculture with the expansion of export plantations, construction of infrastructure (roads, ports), urbanisation, and especially cutting for various uses including smoking of fishery products. “If nothing is done to protect them, all the mangrove areas will disappear, and with them all the biodiversity they contain with their functions, goods and ecosystem services that they provide to local populations, to Côte d'Ivoire and to humanity,” Dr Issola warned.
Mangrove forests are typical ecosystems of tropical and subtropical areas. These ecosystems are vital for the conservation of various animal and plant species and in the fight against coastal erosion and climate change. However, they are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world, so steps are being taken to protect them.
The IPC-AO project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through the Abidjan Convention.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of FAO Regional Office for Africa.
Source: Apo-Opa
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