Ghana is characterized by rich biodiversity. The country has a total of 3,600 species of flora, with 221 species of amphibians and reptiles, 728 species of birds and 225 mammalian species

This report documents the incredible teamwork, innovation, passion, dedication, and commitment of our staff and hundreds of West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) partners who have worked together over the past five and half years towards the common goal of promoting conservation and climate-resilient, low emission growth across West Africa.

The land use mapping module is a study requested by Component 2 of WA BiCC Program ‘Increasing coastal resilience’, implemented in the administrative area (Prefecture) of Fresco. The coastline of this prefecture forms part of the catchment area for the Bolo and Niouniourou coastal rivers and is closely associated with activities in the locality. Satellite images were used to map land cover and land use at different dates: 1990 and 2017 for the whole prefecture and 2018 for the Fresco lagoon landscape.

A West Africa Regional Perspective: A Review of Threats to Biodiversity in West Africa, Current Status of Wildlife Trafficking, Ongoing or Planned Actions or Programs to Combat Wildlife Trafficking, and CITES Implementation in the Focal Countries and across West Africa

A review of threats to biodiversity in West Africa, current status of wildlife trafficking, ongoing or planned actions, programs, policy and legislative reforms to combat wildlife trafficking, and CITES implementation in the focal countries and across West Africa.

This brief aims to review the various transboundary collaboration initiatives catalyzed or facilitated during the West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) program and draw some lessons for stakeholders to consider.

This Co-Management Plan (CMP) for the Sherbro River Estuary (SRE) was developed by national and local stakeholders through technical and financial support from the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) -funded West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change Program (WA BiCC) in response to the need for sustainable conservation of the SRE. This CMP focuses on the people and biodiversity necessary to achieve ecological resilience to mitigate the effects of climate change. The CMP has been developed through consultations and data gathering at all levels of socio- political and governance structures and a direct field mapping exercise. The Plan represents a collaboration among communities in 10 chiefdoms of the Bonthe and Moyamba Districts in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone communities and the National Protected Areas Authority (NPAA), supported by government, civil society, and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners.

This land cover and carbon assessment of mangroves in Sierra Leone follows-on and builds upon a 2017 report that documented mangrove extent and carbon stocks in the same region between 1990 and 2016 (eventually published as WABiCC, 2020). Now, as then, it is intended to contribute to coastal conservation and climate resilience building activities, and to act as a benchmark for project activities under the West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) project or future related activities. In this report, current mangrove forest cover is examined as is change in land cover between 2016 and early 2020, and change in carbon stocks between 2016 and early 2020 for coastal Sierra Leone.

This report reviews best practices in coastal adaptation in developing countries. The review analyzes end-of-project and mid-term evaluations of 17 coastal adaptation projects from tropical regions in Africa, Asia and Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean performed by entities independent of implementing and funding agencies. It also reviews climate adaptation work of the West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) project in two coastal “learning landscapes”.

One of the main objectives of the USAID West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change program (WA BiCC) was to provide technical and institutional strengthening support to the program’s three core regional partners (CRP): the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission’s Directorate of Environment (DOE); The Abidjan Convention; and the Mano River Union (MRU). The support was intended to enable their transition into more effective and efficient agents of fund management and program/project implementation.