The Environmental Protection Agency-EPA has commenced Workshop on Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management in Sierra Leone at the Atlantic Hotel in Freetown. 

Paul Lamin, the Director of Natural Resources Governance on behalf of the Executive Chairman, led the opening ceremony.

The workshop incorporated training facilitators from the International Ocean Institute – South Africa, representatives from the Abidjan Convention, and national stakeholders.

The director spoke on the potential impacts of unmanaged coastal zones, including environmental, social, and economic implications, as well as health and safety concerns.

He explained that the 2015 Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan was developed to foster effective and sustainable management of our coastal resources, protect our coastal environment from unsustainable use and degradation, enhance the involvement of stakeholders, and offer opportunities for all sectors to contribute to the management of the coastal resources, address issues and pressures on the coastal resources exploitation and use, and manage the resulting risks.

They maintained that, it is part of their larger strategy to promote environmental sustainability in African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries, as well as to implement the Abidjan Convention’s 13th Conference of Parties (COP13) resolutions.

He maintained that, the training is a testament that our partners, the Abidjan Convention, and UNEP, are all committed to implementing a well-organized coastal zone management drive, as well as the agency’s ambition to engage all stakeholders in the process of achieving sustainable coastal zone management goals.

It is noted that, the training is one of the interventions in the EPA Transformative Strategy, which serves as one of the primary tools for knowledge enhancement in carrying out our duties. The goal of this program is to increase our institutions’ capacity to use the ICZM tool for effective coastal zone management that maximizes productivity while minimizing dangers

The Thematic Area: Integrated coastal and ocean management inclusive of Introductory session: Integrated coastal and ocean management in Sierra Leone and Considerations for a Regional Integrated Ocean Management (IOM) Strategy will be addressed.

They also revealed the significant of this training in having a greater impact on communities in the country.