Abidjan (Ivory Coast), 9 to 12 September 2013 – The ECOWAS Council of Ministers in charge of forests, wildlife and the environment adopt a Forest Convergence Plan and the sub-regional action program to combat desertification.

Abidjan (Ivory Coast), 9 to 12 September 2013 - A meeting of ministers of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union) was held, bringing together ministers in charge of forests, wildlife and the environment to adopt a convergence plan for the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems in West Africa and the sub regional action program to combat desertification. The meeting was held with the impetus of sub-regional institutions / organizations such as ECOWAS and WAEMU, with the support of international organizations such as FAO, IUCN and CIFOR, and the ECOWAS countries. To this effect, the ECOWAS countries have embarked on the process of Forest dialogue and of aligning the national action program which commenced respectively in 2005 and 2009.

For further information on the conduct of the meeting of ministers in charge of forests, wildlife and the environment, please consult the following two articles:

Gouvernement de Côte d’Ivoire : CONSERVATION DES ECOSYSTEMES ET DES FORETS : LES MINISTRES DE LA CEDEAO EN CHARGES DES FORETS, DES FAUNES ET L’ENVIRONNEMENT EN QUETE DE SOLUTIONS DURABLES 

L’intelligent d’Abidjan (Publié le mardi 10 septembre 2013): Gestion durable des écosystèmes forestiers / Réunion des ministres des forêts de la Cedeao: La lutte contre la désertification au cœur des assises d’Abidjan 

Reminder: The convergence plan for the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems in West Africa is the outcome of the meeting of Ministers of Forestry and the Environment held in June 2012 in Cotonou, with the participation of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and CILSS (Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel). As for the sub-regional action program to combat desertification that was adopted by the ECOWAS Heads of State in December 1999 in Lomé, it was recently updated in line with the ten-year strategic plan 2008-2018 that seeks to develop a global partnership to stem and prevent desertification and land degradation. According to FAO statistics, forests in West Africa shrank by 870,000 hectares per year between 2000 and 2010.