Marine Turtles in Africa MoU
Encyclopedia
The Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation Measures for Marine Turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa was concluded under Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) auspices and became effective on 1 July 1999. It will remain open for signature indefinitely. It aims at safeguarding six marine turtle species that are estimated to have rapidly declined in numbers during recent years due to excessive exploitation (both direct and incidental) and the degradation of essential habitats.
The list of turtle species, currently protected by the Memorandum, is the following
The "Nairobi Declaration", which was a result of the meeting, attracted the attention to the marine turtle by-catch in industrial fishing operations and emphasized importance of local communities in conservation activities development and implementation.It also encouraged links with other conventions, intergovernmental bodies and NGOs, and sought the integration of marine turtle conservation measures within the emerging African Process for the Development and Protection of the Marine and Coastal Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2005, CMS and the Senegalese Ministry of the Environment signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. An office was established in Senegal in conjunction with the environmental programme of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (SINEPAD). SINEPAD, working on behalf of the CMS Secretariat, will act as the MoU's coordinator. It is tasked with implementing diverse conservation and sustainable use activities related to the MoU.
Species, protected by the Memorandum
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- Loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta
- Olive ridley turtle Lepidochelys olivacea
- Kemp's RidleyKemp's RidleyKemp's ridley sea turtle , or Atlantic ridley sea turtle is the rarest sea turtle and is critically endangered. It is one of two living species in the genus Lepidochelys Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), or Atlantic ridley sea turtle is the rarest sea turtle and is critically...
Lepidochelys kempii - Hawksbill turtleHawksbill turtleThe hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in its genus. The species has a worldwide distribution, with Atlantic and Pacific subspecies. E. imbricata imbricata is the Atlantic subspecies, while E...
Eretmochelys imbricata - Leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea
- Green turtle Chelonia mydas
- The White TurtleJeffery Thomas
Territory of the Memorandum
The MoU covers coastal areas extending some 14,000 km from Morocco to South Africa including Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Portugal (Azores, Madeira), São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain (Canary Islands), Togo and United Kingdom (Ascension Island, St. Helena). An up-to-date list of the MoU's Signatories is found in its Agreement Summary Sheet.Signatories of the Memorandum
countries and territories, which have already signed the Memorandum, are :- AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
- AzoresAzoresThe Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
(Portugal) - BeninBeninBenin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
- CameroonCameroonCameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
- Canary IslandsCanary IslandsThe Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
(Spain) - Republic of the CongoRepublic of the CongoThe Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
- Côte d'IvoireCôte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
- Democratic Republic of the CongoDemocratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
- Equatorial GuineaEquatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
- GabonGabonGabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
- Gambia
- GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
- GuineaGuineaGuinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
- Guinea (Bissau)
- LiberiaLiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
- MadeiraMadeiraMadeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
(Portugal) - MauritaniaMauritaniaMauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
- MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
- NamibiaNamibiaNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
- NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
- São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off...
- SenegalSenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
- Sierra LeoneSierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
- South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
- TogoTogoTogo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
The Conservation Plan
In May 2002 Conservation Plan was concluded in Nairobi. It was focused on the database of turtle ecology establishment, which includes distribution and migration patterns of turtles into it and on the threats to them – like the nature and extent of direct exploitation, by-catch rate, impact of coastal management, pollution and others. The idea of the project is to create a network to monitor and to protect nesting and feeding sites and to collaborate collaboration with local communities, fishermen, travel operators and coastal developers.The "Nairobi Declaration", which was a result of the meeting, attracted the attention to the marine turtle by-catch in industrial fishing operations and emphasized importance of local communities in conservation activities development and implementation.It also encouraged links with other conventions, intergovernmental bodies and NGOs, and sought the integration of marine turtle conservation measures within the emerging African Process for the Development and Protection of the Marine and Coastal Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Various activities
CMS has funded a project, which started in 2001 and was successfully concluded in 2003, aimed at uncovering the migratory patterns of the Green Turtle population nesting at Poilão, Guinea-Bissau.In 2005, CMS and the Senegalese Ministry of the Environment signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. An office was established in Senegal in conjunction with the environmental programme of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (SINEPAD). SINEPAD, working on behalf of the CMS Secretariat, will act as the MoU's coordinator. It is tasked with implementing diverse conservation and sustainable use activities related to the MoU.
See also
- Convention on Migratory Species
- Marine Turtles in Indian Ocean and South East Asia MoUIOSEAis an intergovernmental agreement that aims to protect, conserve, replenish and recover marine turtles and their habitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asian region, working in partnership with other relevant actors and organizations....
- Sea turtles