WWF Signs New Agreement for African Cetaceans
© WWF / Wendy Elliott
Mamadou Diallo from the WWF-West African Marine Ecoregion Programme signing a new intergovernmental agreement to conserve the West African Manatee and Small Whales in Western Africa and Macaronesia. CMS, December 2008.
Mamadou Diallo, from the WWF's West African Marine Ecoregion Programme today signed a new intergovernmental agreement to conserve the West African Manatee and Small Whales in Western Africa and Macaronesia.
The conservation instrument consists of 2 Action Plans for the conservation of theses species was first adopted by 15 countries in Togo in October, and opened for signatory by implementing partners today.
Along with WWF, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society also signed the agreement.
More than 30 small cetacean species will be covered in this agreement, in an area that stretches from Macaronesia, through Morocco to South Africa.
The need to conserve and raise awareness of western Africa's marine mammals is as pressing as ever. Various threats, includin:
- direct and accidental catch,
- coastal development,
- pollution and
- habitat degradation,
This agreement can play a vital role in future conservation efforts by helping to facilitate transboundary cooperation and by providing an international platform to negotiate and coordinate research and conservation measures.
15 country representatives signed the agreement in October - Angola, Benin, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Togo).
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