Saly, Senegal, 22-23 November 2011. In partnership with a number of NGOs, including the PRCM, the African Confederation of Traditional Fishing Professional Organisations (CAOPA) organised a workshop on transparency in fisheries. By way of illustration, a Chinese company has been granted a 25-year fisheries concession in Mauritania without any tangible benefits for the country.
Similarly in Senegal, authorisations have been issued to Russian trawlers in total lack of clarity, and obtaining information on joint enterprises is virtually impossible. It is also reported that Guinea Bissau has reached an agreement with an Emirati company for an amount of € 200 million per annum.

On 20 November 2011, following concerted action involving the PRCM, the Network of West African Local Representatives and Parliamentarians for the Environment (APPEL), the RECARGAO Project and a number of European and African partners, the Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) agreed to table the impact of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and its external policy aspects on ACP countries as an urgent motion for resolution at its next meeting due to take place in May 2012 in Denmark.

To recognize and celebrate one of the founders of the Ramsar Convention, in this 40th anniversary year, the Standing Committee has decided to bestow a 40th Anniversary Honorary Ramsar Award to Dr Luc Hoffmann.

Dr Hoffmann is celebrated for his lifetime engagement in the cause of wetland conservation and environmental conservation in a broader sense. For decades, Luc Hoffmann has inspired and been a mentor to scientists and conservationists concerned with wetlands.

The Ramsar Award for Management is given to Ms Augusta Henriques for her central role in the foundation of the NGO Tiniguena (“This Land is Ours”) in 1991 and for her long-term leadership and work with communities towards the creation of a Community Marine Protected Area at Urok Islands – the first marine protected area recognized by the Government of Guinea-Bissau. In the Bijagós Archipelago, Ms Henriques created this community marine protected area, comprised of mangroves and tidal flats and home to many bird and other species, among them marine turtles and manatees.

A training workshop on “Challenges and Stakes of Biodiversity Conservation” was organised by the PRCM in collaboration with the Association of Journalists of Cape Verde on 15-16 November 2011 in Praia, Cape Verde. Targeting journalists from that country, the workshop aimed to strengthen the capacities of information relay agents and was a follow-up to meetings held in 2009 and 2010 for other journalists from PRCM member countries.

From 20th to 22nd October 2011, Freetown, Sierra Leone will host a meeting organised by the Project supporting the Regional Network of Parliamentarians and Local Representatives for an integrated management of the coastal and marine zones of West African countries (PREPARE). The purpose of that meeting is to strengthen the capacities of MPs and Local Representatives in the face of risks associated with the development of certain activities, such as mining, IUU fishing, wetlands management and protected areas governance.

From 17th to 22nd October 2011, a team from WIA regional office composed of Ibrahima Thiam Regional Director, Mamadou Niane, Programme Coordinator, Abdoulaye Ndiaye Capacity Building Manager, Fatima Sow, Communications Coordinator travelled to Sierra Leone in view of meeting different stakeholders engaged in the implementation of the PRCM prgramme in Sierra Leone as well as providing support to the parliamentarian network conference and consolidate Sierra Leone’s linkage to the PRCM network.