Convention for the Co-operation in the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the West and Central African Region (Abidjan Convention)

Definition

A UNEP Regional Seas Convention for the Western and Central African region. It is a comprehensive umbrella agreement for the protection and management of the marine and coastal areas. It lists the sources of pollution that require control: ships, dumping, land-based activities, exploration and exploitation of the seabed, and pollution from or through the atmosphere. It also identifies environmental management issues for which cooperative efforts are to be made: coastal erosion, specially protected areas, combating pollution in cases of emergency; and environmental impact assessment. It was adopted in 1981 and entered into force in 1984.

Its biodiversity relevance is that it calls for contracting parties to "protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems as well as the habitat of depleted, threatened or endangered species and other marine life" through the establishment of protected areas or prohibitions of harmful activities. 2

Abidjan Convention Secretariat (2014) 1