Mangroves Initiative - West Africa / waca (Benin, Senegal and Togo)

The retreat of the coastline observed on many West African coastlines is the result of a variety of factors, both natural and linked to climate change, but also man-made.

Aware of the growing impact of coastal risks, in 2011 the eleven countries of the UEMOA affirmed their desire to pool their resources to create a West African Coastal Observation Mission (MOLOA), coordinated regionally by the Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), based in Dakar. This project is part of the WACA (West Africa Coastal Areas) regional program of technical assistance for the sustainable development of the West African coastline, to combat coastal erosion and flooding, supported by the World Bank.

The project is structured into four components:

• Support for the operation of MOLOA, its partners, and the strengthening of its resources.
• Production of data related to the understanding of coastal risks and capacity building of MOLOA, its partners, and governance bodies.
• Pilot actions for adaptation and coastal risk reduction (soft methods).
• Communication, capitalization, and scientific exchanges.

• Strengthen shared governance of coastal areas by reinforcing the regional mechanism and national mechanisms for monitoring West African coastlines, providing reliable and up-to-date data on the state of and pressures on the coastal strip.
• Preserve ecosystems and limit coastal artificialisation by identifying and promoting the contribution of protected areas and natural spaces to the resilience of West African coastlines.
• Enhance knowledge of environments and pressures, and monitoring systems, through the implementation of specific studies and the strengthening of the system established by MOLOA.
• Improve the resilience of territories to natural hazards and the effects of climate change through the implementation of soft pilot solutions for coastal protection.