Month: December 2019

STRONG High Seas Training

Participants from South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Gabon, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Liberia met in Cape Town on the 27th and 28th November, 2019, to discuss the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) negotiations that are taking place in New York. The workshop was the first of two that will be run by STRONG High Seas Project partners, the International Ocean Institute – African Region, in collaboration with BirdLife International.

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The workshop aimed to bring together representatives from the Abidjan Convention countries, with an interest in the BBNJ negotiations that are taking place in New York, to learn from each other and have a better understanding of the importance of the negotiations for Africa, and how they can contribute to the negotiations at a national and regional level.

To find out more about the workshop, please see the STRONG High Seas Capacity Development Workshop Report.

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The presentations from the workshop are included below:

  1. Introduction to the High Seas
  2. The STRONG Project – an introduction
  3. Introduction to the BBNJ Negotiations
  4. South Africa and the African Group’s perspective
  5. ABNJ and the Southeast Atlantic Region
  6. Abidjan Convention and BBNJ

 

WIOGEN Kick Off Conference

The Western Indian Ocean Governance Exchange Network (WIOGEN) kick off conference at the Maru Maru Hotel in Zanzibar on the 7th and 8th November 2019. The conference, co-hosted by WIOMSA, was attended by 40 delegates from South Africa, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Seychelles, Mauritius, Germany and Australia.

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WIOGEN is designed to be inclusive and dynamic, with ideas for publications, trainings and exchanges coming from its members and being put forward to the steering committee for funding. The work of WIOGEN is organised under three themes or working groups: 1) Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture; 2) Marine Spatial Planning and Coastal Management and 3) Biodiversity Conservation, Habitat Loss and Pollution. Adnan Awad highlighted how the working groups would be a communication platform amongst members within thematic areas and would identify areas of focus, capacity and networking needs. The working groups would be responsible for producing output in support of the gaps and needs that they identify and in turn be supported by WIOGEN through training workshops and scientific exchanges as well as a science to policy event and closing conference.

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WIOGEN Kick Off Meeting Team, November 2019

WIOGEN welcomes new members, anyone is welcome to join by completing the survey. The link and all presentations from the Kick Off Conference can also be found on the WIOGEN website. We welcome input and suggestions from all WIOGEN members and all those active in the Western Indian Ocean Region