Resource information
Within the sub-region of West Central
Africa (Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana,
Niger, Nigeria, and Togo) several countries have completed
National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs). Some are
implementing environmental support programs based on these
plans, as well as more site-specific natural resource
management, urban environmental management, and biodiversity
conservation projects. The report notes some success
stories. It concludes, however, that high population growth
and rapid urbanization, high poverty levels and the direct
dependency of most poor families on natural resources for
subsistence, low levels of environmental awareness at all
levels of society, market and policy failures, and
institutional weaknesses, all point to the need for
redoubling and redirecting environmental efforts. These
factors underlie the sub-region's priority problems as
identified in national planning exercises: (i) land
degradation; (ii) deforestation and loss of biodiversity;
(iii) water availability and quality; (iv) urban
environmental degradation; and (v) coastal resource
degradation. Without action, these problems will
increasingly constrain the options for sustainable
development. The strategy makes it clear that the next major
phase towards Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD)
is to mainstream environmental issues into national
development planning in all sectors and at all levels of society.
