The first experts meeting to establish guidelines and draft an additional protocol to the Abidjan Convention for Integrated Coastal Zone Management in West, Central and Southern Africa is underway in Accra.

The Convention covers 22 countries bordering the Atlantic coast, from Mauritania to South Africa, and seeks to address issues of pollution from ships, pollution as a result of dumping, pollution from land-based activities, and pollution from exploration and exploitation of the seabed and coastal erosion.

The three-day meeting is expected to establish a conceptual framework for Integrated Coastal Zone Management and propose a work plan for the elaboration of a protocol feasibility study.

The programme is organized by the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and the Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, said government had embarked on a number of activities to ensure that its efforts to develop the marine and coastal resources improved the well-being of Ghanaians.

He said government, in collaboration with the International Maritime Organisation, had developed an Environmental Sensitivity Map for the entire coast.

In addition, government has also elaborated the physico-chemical and biological profile of the maritime environment up to 1,000 metres ocean depth before the commercial production of oil.

The Minister said these interventions underscored the country’s value on multilateral and regional cooperation to achieve sustainable development.

It also shows commitment to ensure that the development of the marine and coastal resources is not at the expense of the health of the ecosystem.

He said government had requested the Secretariat of the Convention to consider some initiatives, as part of the UNEP Regional Seas programme, to take advantage of the new impetus for cooperation within the region to address common threats, such as sea level rise and coastal erosion.

Mr Abou Bamba, the Executive Secretary of the Abidjan Convention, said the meeting would review the diversity of activities on and uses of coastal zones, as well as their interaction and impact on the marine and terrestrial parts.

He said the interaction would also take inventory of the methods and adequate technologies to reach a rational use of the coastal zones in West, Central and Southern Africa.