Establishment of the national monitoring system for the implementation of Senegal’s National Mangrove Management Strategy (SNGM)
Following the validation of Senegal’s National Mangrove Management Strategy (SNGM), under the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment and Ecological Transition (METE) through the Directorate of Protected Community Marine Areas (DAMCP), the country now has a national system to monitor and strengthen the effectiveness of the implementation of this strategy developed with the technical and financial support of Wetlands International Africa – West Coast and Gulf of Guinea (WIACO).
The establishment of this organizational framework responds to the need, clearly highlighted in the actions recommended by the strategic document, to have an integrated governance system at the national level to ensure more harmonized management of the country’s mangroves. It is also part of the dynamics of the establishment of the National Cell of the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA), a global coalition of organizations, governments, multi-sectoral structures and local communities working towards a common goal of conserving and restoring mangrove ecosystems.
It is to meet this need for both national coordination and monitoring of the Strategy’s actions, as well as the representation of the GMA at the Senegalese level, that the DAMCP organized on November 5 and 6, 2024 in Saly, a workshop co-financed by WIACO thanks to the support of Conservation International (Woka Foundation) through the initiative to establish the National Cells of the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA) in West Africa, as well as by IUCN-PACO within the framework of the Natur’ELLES project financed by the Canadian Government through SOCODEVI.
The meeting brought together various stakeholders active in mangrove management issues, particularly in the Saloum Delta, Casamance and the lower delta of the Senegal River, including NGOs, technical departments of the Ministry of the Environment such as the DPN, the DEFCS, local authorities and local communities through the Departmental Councils as well as their technical support services, the Regional Development Agencies (ARD).
During the two days of work, representatives of the structures and institutions present refined and validated an architecture and a mode of operation of the proposed organizational framework and designated under the name Platform Mangrove of Senegal (PMS), thus marking an important step forward in the implementation of the National Strategy of Senegal for the management of mangrove ecosystems. The workshop participants also, in accordance with the agenda, worked on the operationalization elements of the PMS as a proposed mechanism. Thus, an annual action plan developed on the basis of priority objectives and actions in the main areas of intervention outlined in the strategy document was proposed by the participants on behalf of the PMS. In this same logic of ensuring its prompt implementation, a first thematic group was set up to maintain and lead, on behalf of the PMS (National Cells), relations and exchanges with the Global Mangrove Alliance at the international level cites the name of the group.
In doing so, Senegal, while taking advantage of opportunities for improvement in the conservation and restoration of its mangroves, intends to be able to fully play its role and contribute to the objectives of this global coalition that the country joined in November 2023 with the signing of the “Mangrove Breakthrough” agreement.
