Du 27 au 30 avril 2026, la douzième édition du Forum Régional Marin et Côtier (FOMACO) a réuni à Nouakchott, en Mauritanie, les acteurs engagés dans la gouvernance des ressources marines et côtières en Afrique de l’Ouest. Organisé par le PRCM, le programme WACA y était représenté par l’UEMOA, conduite par le Commissaire chargé de l’Agriculture, des Ressources en Eau et de l’Environnement, aux côtés du Bureau d’Appui Régional (WACA BAR) porté par l’UICN PACO et de l’équipe Banque mondiale en charge du programme.
From 20 to 23 April, ahead of FOMACO, WACA BAR co-facilitated with the African Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECOR) at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana a regional train-the-trainers workshop on the inclusive blue economy. Bringing together 27 participants from several West African countries, this workshop aimed to equip regional actors with approaches that reconcile the preservation of coastal resources, social inclusion and economic development – for more resilient models to the benefit of coastal communities.WACA BAR will also support the pool of experts established in replicating the outcomes at national level, in order to strengthen the dissemination of the approaches and tools developed during the training.
WACA BAR will also support the pool of experts established in replicating the outcomes at national level, in order to strengthen the dissemination of the approaches and tools developed during the training.
During the pre-forum and the forum itself, the WACA delegation contributed to several strategic sessions dedicated to Nature-based Solutions (NbS), their scaling up and the conditions necessary for their adoption in West Africa. Discussions also focused on blue carbon and the financing opportunities linked to coastal ecosystems, particularly mangroves. A high-level plenary session dedicated to NbS attracted nearly 300 participants, reflecting the growing interest in these approaches in West Africa. The programme also organised a side event dedicated to NbS knowledge resources, highlighting tools and experiences developed to support countries in their coastal resilience strategies.
The WACA capitalisation exhibition attracted nearly 250 visitors who came to discover the results of WACA ResIP projects in the areas of coastal protection, ecosystem restoration and community resilience. Through visual panels, key figures and direct exchanges with participants, it allowed the experiences and results achieved across the programme’s different countries to be showcased.
The highlight of this participation: on 29 April, a guided tour bringing together around one hundred participants brought together the Project Management Units (PMUs) of the six countries covered by WACA ResIP – Côte d’Ivoire, São Tomé and Príncipe, Benin, Mauritania, Togo and Senegal – providing a space for sharing field experiences and results across the entire West African coastline.
Les travaux ont débouché sur l’adoption de la Déclaration de Nouakchott, document politique par lequel les États ouest-africains affirment leur volonté commune d’accélérer leurs engagements en matière de conservation marine et de gouvernance durable des océans.
With more than 550 cumulative interactions around its activities, the WACA programme consolidated its position on strategic themes such as Nature-based Solutions, the inclusive blue economy and blue carbon, while strengthening synergies with regional partners around concrete and replicable solutions for the West African coastline.