The Fresco coastal landscape in Côte d’Ivoire harbors some of the country’s rich biodiversity hotspots and is noted for its contribution to fisheries food security. It was selected by USAID as a focal landscape for interventions by USAID’s West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change Program (WA BiCC) based on scoping work undertaken during Program design. The selection was guided in part because several communities within the landscape are increasingly impacted by ever-changing climatic events such as storm surges, erosion and flooding. Residents wake up each morning not knowing what fate will bring. Inhabitants of several of these communities have adapted to these phenomena by becoming virtual nomads, vacating their homes periodically to escape the dangers of these increasingly unpredictable events. Until recently, the Fresco landscape had not been considered by the Government as vulnerable an area as other coastal landscapes where coastal communities and the ecosystems they depend on are exposed to extreme and harsh climate events. However, the Ivoirian Government now considers its entire coast as a connected system that must be managed as an integrated whole.
In this context an initiative to increase coastal resilience in the Fresco Coastal Landscape and Watershed was finally launched – seeking not only to make vulnerable households less vulnerable and more resilient, but to make Fresco one of the very first places in West Africa to test regional-level policies on the ground. These are the Abidjan Convention Protocols on the Sustainable Management of Mangroves and Integrated Coastal Zone Management.
On Wednesday February 13, high-level government officials, traditional authorities, community stakeholders and other development partners met at the Fresco Town Hall to affirm their enthusiastic support for the initiative on “Increasing Coastal Resilience to Climate Change in Fresco, Côte d’Ivoire.” For the Secretary General of the Fresco Prefecture – Jerôme Aboh Koffi, the activities planned are a breakthrough. “Indeed, it is a great joy for our Municipality to have been chosen by destiny to benefit from this project of global significance. This launch is just the beginning of a long journey towards building resilience but is already an indication of successful outcomes.”
The Fresco coastal landscape resilience effort is expected to improve lives of thousands and contribute to the protection of the landscape’s rich ecosystems through a diverse series of activities including restoration of Fresco’s mangrove and upland forests and biodiversity habitat; farmers upstream will be supported to use agroforestry techniques to improve the resilience of their plantations and climate change related information will be integrated into local policies to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change over time. Activities are also planned to facilitate local fishermen’s access to the tools necessary to manage resources at the Fresco Lagoon estuary in an efficient and sustainable way. This initiative will be implemented in collaboration with the Ivorian Government, relevant national institutions and local communities.
The landscape includes the Fresco Lagoon and the upstream watershed consisting of the Bolo and Niouniourou rivers, which provide the lagoon with the fresh water, essential to maintaining a healthy balance of salt and fresh water. The lagoon is classified as a ‘wetland site of international importance’ under the Ramsar Convention,[1] due to the richness of its animal and plant species, several of which are endangered like the manatee, African grey parrot and several species of sea turtle. Bordered by mangroves, some of which have been severely degraded, the lagoon is an important breeding ground for numerous species of fish, a key source of protein and income for surrounding communities. The official launch of the work in Fresco typifies WA BiCC’s approach of working at the regional level, while testing integrated coastal zone management approaches on the ground to inform policy makers and practitioners across West Africa. The approach also emphasizes WA BiCC’s partnership with regional partners including the Abidjan Convention, whose jurisdiction covers the protection and management of marine and coastal resources along the Atlantic Coast of West, Central and South Africa regions. “The Fresco project allows us to test on the ground, two of the Abidjan Convention’s Protocols on Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Mangrove Ecosystems,” stressed the WA BiCC Chief of Party at the launch.
The Program Coordinator for the Ministry of Environment’s Coastal Zone Management Program – Professor Eric Valère Djagoua, informed the participants that the most effective way to build coastal resilience was to approach the entire coastal zone of a country as linked management unit rather than paying particular attention to some areas at the expense of others. “Under the new Ivorian legislation, which captures major principles of integrated coastal zone management, the Ministry of Environment is committed to promoting the protection and development of the entire Ivorian coastal stretch, rather than focusing on just a few selected vulnerability hotspots,” he said.
Also present at the launch, highlighting the importance that local authorities ascribe to the initiative, were the Mayor of Fresco – Mr. Beugrefoh Tchekre Fulbert, the Senator of the Gbôklé Region, which includes Fresco – Madam Amélie Beugré Orhon, traditional authorities, representatives of the Forestry Development Authority in Côte d’Ivoire (SODEFOR), and other community stakeholders. For many community members this activity is already a success story because for the first time there is a framework for relevant stakeholders in the landscape to work together – and for the first time stakeholders including fish traders, fishermen, migrant fishers, farmers, etc. have a voice and an opportunity to share and discuss their issues together as a group and define and implement jointly agreed solutions.
The initiative is funded by the Unite States Agency for International Development (USAID) though the West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) Program, and implemented as a grant mechanism by the local NGO – IMPACTUM.
[1] The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971.