West Africa

This book (published in French) consists of nine articles written by environmental lawyers from the region, regrouped around three themes: Chapter I deals with “convergences and divergences of national legal frameworks”, and provides illustrations from a number of countries and subjects; Chapter II considers a selection of legal frameworks for three types of ecosystems (forests, a river basin, and marine and coastal areas); Chapter III considers the implementation of international law and reg

In some areas of western equatorial Africa, ape populations have declined by more than 50% over the last twenty years. By far the most serious short-term threats to apes in this region are poaching and disease epidemics. In the longer term, however, it is believed that habitat loss and disturbance will become as serious a threat as hunting and disease.

This report provides a basis for development and implementation of a global system of marine protected areas to protect and manage representative examples of the world's rich marine biodiversity. It identifies priorities for establishing new marine protected areas and improving management of existing ones in each of the world's 18 major regions.

At the close of a 15-year regional programme to build institutional capacity for wetland resources management in West Africa, it was deemed essential to extract and review the lessons learned through this experience. This publication stems from the findings of a study carried out to analyse the experience as a whole and shed light on the successes, shortcomings, strengths and weaknesses of the programme as implemented.