Posted on August, 26 2004

WAMER Info                                 
Edition # 5, 04 August 2004 
West African Marine Ecoregion (WAMER) 
 
Editorial :A shared resource, a common responsibility 
 
Scientic studies continue to show that West Africa is a globally important region for sea turtle species. 
 Indeed, six of the world's seven marine turtle species live in West African waters, where the animals are economically, culturally, and socially important to coastal communities.Yet, most policy and decision-makers tend to forget that marine turtles are a shared resource for the whole of the sub-region and as such calls for a shared responsibility. 
 These endangered species are highly migratory:a turtle tagged in Guinea-Bissau can later on be found in The Gambia or far-away in Mauritania. Some come to feed or breed from as far away as South and North America.. Conservation cooperation within the West Africa Marine Ecoregion (WAMER) and at the international level is more than necessary, it is essential if these species are to be protected and local livelihoods secured.The regional marine turtle conservation plan drafted by West Africa countries two years ago should therefore be implemented without further delay: the ecological, economic and cultural balance of the sub-region is at stake. 
 

 New staff members 
 
Mantane Diop has joined WAMER’s office as Director of Finance and Administration, mdiop@wwfsenegal.org 
 
Awa Ndiaye is WAMER’s new Microfinance Programme Officer. andiaye@wwfsenegal.org 
 
El Hadj Palla SARR  is WAMER’s new Logistics and Administrative Assitant  psarr@wwfsenegal.org 
 

  Issues and actions
 
Baby fish campaign evalutation shows encouraging results 
Following the campaign launched by WWF, the Senegalese Fisheries Ministry and Oceanium  to stop the capture of baby fish in Senegal on 14 October 2004, a field trip was organized onto the major campaign sites to conduct a mid-term  evaluation of the nationwide campaign.The purpose of the evaluation was to see whether  fishermen,wholesale fish traders, fish processing women and consumers have sufficiently understood and acted upon the campaign messages. 
 Using surprise visits on key fish landing sites together with interviews , the evaluation revealed that most campaign messages came across all over the country. The result is that there are less and less baby fish in Senegalese dishes with the exception of the eastern part of the country where the national fisheries code is still poorly implemented. This, according to most fishing professionals can be put down to the lack of effective monitoring and surveillance activities in this part of Senegal.For their part, the relevant authorities have pledged to take the bull by the horns and fully enforce the fisheries code across the country. Hopefully the tide of irresponsible fishing will ebb for good in Senegal. 
 Contact: fbambara@wwfsenegal.org 
 
  
Registering fishing boats to regulate fisheries access 
There are too many boats chasing too few fish in Senegal.To solve the problem, the Fisheries ministry,the Swiss Development Agency and other conservation partners have initiated the registration of all the fishing boats in Senegal with a view to regulating the exploitation of fisheries resources. To that  effect, Seneglese fishing professionals presented their Fisheries Minister with a procedures manual on fishing boats registration on 19 May 2004. This manual contains a set of regulatory, administrative and technical recommendations for the implementation of the computerized registration of Senegal’s fishing fleet.A nationwide awareness-raising campaign was mounted to enlist the support of all fishing professionals. WWF, artisanal fishermen and fisheries authorities support the initiative and see it as both an important and necessary step in the process of sustainably managing fisheries resources in Senegal 
Contact: psdiouf@wwfsenegal.org 
 

Sustainable fisheries bank on mutual savings banks in Kayar 
In partnership with major fisheries professional organizations in Senegal (ADPES, FENAGIE,etc.) WWF is in the process of putting in place a savings and loan association in Kayar, Senegal so as to help promote fisheries resources conservation in the country .Once it is set up, the association will finance activities like wholesale fish trade, fish processing, market gardening, etc.It will also help poorer fishermen gain access to  financial assistance necessary for sustainable fishing activities.The long term objective is to create a network of savings and loan associations in Senegal in support of sustainable fisheries management.WWF ‘s support to the current association range from capacity building and monitoring to the evaluation of its organizational development. 
Contact: bdioh@wwfsenegal.org 
 
  
South-South exchange programmes for sustainable fisheries 
From 16-22 April 2004, a delegation of fishermen in Kayar, Senegal called on their counterparts the Imraguen fishermen of Banc d’Arguin National Park in Mauritania.The objective of this visit by the senegalese fishermen was to promote angling ( the catching of fish by means of a hook and a line), develop the institutional capacity and negotiation skills of the Imraguen fishermen.This visit was financially supported by WWF and helped fishermen from both countries exchange information on responsible fishing techniques and practices. 
A similar visit was paid to Senegalese fishermen by the imraguen in the late 2002. 
Contact: llarochelle@wwfsenegal.org 
 
  
Building capacity for marine turtles monitoring 
From 30 June to 08 July 2004, representatives from six West African countries including Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, the Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, as well as IUCN and WWF gathered in Guinea Bissau to develop national and regional capacity for marine turtle monitoring activities and review the regional marine turtle conservation plan. 
 The assessment in Guinea- Bissau is that there is still a long way to go despite the progress made both at the national and regional level.WWF urges each West African country concerned to implement the national priority actions outlined within the regional conservation plan so as to help both marine turtles and coastal communities. 
 The French and English version of the report as well as pictures are available. 
Contact: asoumare@wwfsenegal.org 
 

WWF to set up a community radio in Kayar 
At the request of local communities in Kayar,Senegal,WWF is helping the people of Kayar with a community radio which will contribute, among other things, to the promotion of sustainable fisheries in the area.Preliminary surveys conducted with local people and potential partners in the initiative have underscored the need for such a radio in the area.A meeting is being planned with national and international partners to lay the groundwork for the radio. 
Contact: fbambara@wwfsenegal.org 
 
  
 Meetings 
 
Environmental talks to enhance collaboration among conservation players 
On 22 May 2004, WWF co-organized in Dakar, Senegal the 4th edition of the environmental talks commonly known as “Café causeries”in collaboration with some national partners namely R.P.C (the Coastal Planning Network), GREP (the leading environmental reporters association in Senegal), Envi-Pêche (a fisheries research department) and GIRMaC (a World Bank programme on integrated coastal resource management).More than 100 participants from NGOs, governmental departments, donor agencies, media associations and fishermen organizations met to discuss the current partnership or collaboration between Governments, fisheries professional organisations and NGOs for marine conservation in Senegal, and look for ways of improving it.The meeting helped identify obstacles to a fruitful partnership between the above players including actions needed to remedy the situation. At the end of the meeting, an “Initiative Committee” including WWF was put in place to facilitate the alliance of the various partners as well as the development and implementation of common projects or programmes. 
 Contact: fbambara@wwfsenegal.org 
 
  
The senegalese parliament to support the creation of more MPAs 
On 6 March 2004 the students of CESTI (Communications College) in Senegal organized an open day on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in collaboration with WWF’s West Africa Marine Programme. WWF was requested to make a powerpoint presentation on  the social, economic and cultural importance of MPAs in Senegal.This presentation did contribute to the firm commiment made immediately after by the chairman of Senegalese Parliament’s Environmental Committee, Mr. Lamine Thiam to support the establishment of more Marine Protected Areas in Senegal. Mr.Thiam also asked WWF to help provide Senegalese parliamentarians with relevant training on marine and coastal issues, and invited WWF to attend the next environmental sessions of the Senegalese National Assembly. 
 The students of the communications college also expressed their desire to be part of  GREP (WWF’s backed environmental reporters association) so as to contribute to environmental awareness-building in Senegal.
Contact: asoumare@wwfsenegal.org 
 
  
Environmental reporters raise awareness on environmental issues in northen Senegal 
From 22-24 April 2004, GREP, the leading Environmental Reporters Association in Senegal, organized a field trip to Saint-Louis,(northen Senegal) in partnership with WWF and the Dutch Embassy.The purpose of the mission was to get Senegalese journalists in touch with local environmental experts and people in Saint-Louis so as to better understand key environmental issues in the area often affected by floods.
During this press trip, a press brief was held with technical experts and local fishermen representatives to discuss issues related to the opening of a breach on the Langue de Barbarie (a strip of land located between the Atlantic Ocean and River Senegal) and the planned privatization of the Djoudj Water Birds National Park.
This media trip resulted in the production of one TV piece, three radio programmes and a dozen articles by the local media. 
A report of the the media trip is currently available in French and will be translated into English soon. 
Contact: fbambara@wwfsenegal.org 
 
  
Good to know… 
 
WAMER now has a new email system 
Since early July 2004, WWF‘s Marine Programme Office in Senegal (WAMER) has switched to a new email system: Novell GroupWise 6.5. The result is that wwfwafrica.org is no longer WAMER’s domain name. 
The new domain name is now wwfsenegal.org.If you are using Novell GroupWise you can access WAMER’s staff email addresses directly from Novell GroupWise address book.Otherwise you can send an mail to your wamer colleagues by typing the username of the addressee e.g PSiegel (P (initial of first name: Paul) + Siegel (surname written in full) + @wwfsenegal.org .This combination results in psiegel@wwfsenegal.org 
 
WAMER’s current list of working email addresses include: 

1.Pape Samba Diouf: psdiouf@wwfsenegal.org
2.Paul Siegel: psiegel@wwfsenegal.org  
3.Bernard Dioh: bdioh@wwfsenegal.org
4.Mantané Diop: mdiop@wwfsenegal.org
5.Arona Soumaré asoumare@wwfsenegal.org
6.Lyne Larochelle: llarochelle@wwfsenegal.org
7.Jean Michel Tavares: jmtavares@wwfsenegal.org
8.Oulimata Diop: odiop@wwfsenegal.org 
11.Frédéric Bambara: fbambara@wwfsenegal.org:

Contact : fbambara@wwfsenegal.org
 

Calendar 
 
 N.B.:The dates below are tentative.You will therefore be notified of any change in the dates. 
 
5-7 October 2004/Dakar, Senegal: Kick-off workshop for the development of Senegal’sMPAs management plans
 
18-21 October 2004 /Dakar, Senegal: Sub-regional workshop on shared vision for West African fisheries 
                                                                 
Early November 2004/Dakar, Senegal: Gift to the Earth Celebration for Senegal’s four new MPAs 
           
                          
Time to relax: 
 
An example to follow 
You want believe your ears: a fisherman from Kayar (one of Senegal’s main fishing centers) turned himself in to policemen after realizing that his children brought to shore baby fish from their fishing boats.When asked why he did this, he said that he did it out of love for his children and grandchildren because if his chilren continue to catch baby fish, the fish want have time to grow up into maturity and replenish the waters.As a result, his grandchildren will not be able to fish either: the consequences will simply be incalculable.
Out of love for their father, his children rushed to the police station and promised not to capture baby fish any longer in exchange for their father release.What if other fishermen take after him, would this not contribute to stop the capture of baby fish? 
 _________________________________________
 Published by the Communications Unit, 
 Sacré-Coeur III, B. P. 22928, Dakar, Senegal 
 © WWF WARPO /WAMER 2004 
 Editors: Frédéric Bambara and Lyne Larochelle  
 Tel.: +221 869 37 00   Fax: +221 869 37 02     
 fbambara@wwfwafrica.org 
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