Management Objectives Oyster Plan Jan 2012 508 Signatures

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4. Management Objectives

Several stakeholder meetings and workshops have been organized with the financial and technical support of the Ba Nafaa project, involving representatives from each of the communities harvesting cockles and oysters in Tanbi Wetlands National Park as well as other communities in the Western Region that are affiliated to TRY Association as members. These meetings and workshops have also included local leaders Alkalos, legislative representatives, municipalities, and key Government agencies including Department of Fisheries, Department of Parks and Wildlife Management, Department of Forestry, and National Environment Agency. The meetings and workshops have built an understanding of the management issues and need for a new management approach. The meetings have also helped to outline an institutional framework for management that includes community-based committees for each harvesting village as well as a Tanbi ecosystem-wide management committee. Training workshops to discuss co-management concepts were also implemented to prepare the women with basic knowledge to start the co-management planning process. Importantly, all the stakeholders are supportive of the contents of this co-management plan including the main objectives for management and measures to achieve these objectives. Key objectives developed by the stakeholders are provided below. The management objectives are based on biological, ecological, social and economic issues: Biological Objective: • Sustainable harvesting of the cockle and oyster resources that prevents small sized juveniles from being harvested and allows larger more valuable oysters and cockles to be harvested. Ecological Objective: • Maintain the health and functioning of the mangrove ecology, thereby protecting important habitats of oysters and other shellfish, finfish, and marine mammals including the West African manatee, as well as mitigating Climate Change through carbon sequestration. Social Objective: • Strengthen Community Participation in planning, implementation and decision making in the rational and sustainable use and management of the oyster and cockle resources. Economic Objective: • Access to improved markets, financing, poverty reduction and food security among oyster harvesters. 19

5. Management Measures to Achieve Objectives