The Bijagós archipelago located off the coast of Guinea-Bissau is a haven of natural beauty and remarkable biodiversity. However, this fragile ecosystem faces several threats, including overfishing, illegal fishing, deforestation and climate change. The Blue Bijagos Project has emerged as the start of a solution to the conservation challenges facing the archipelago. Following is a look back at the early stages of the project.
Launched in June 2023, the Blue Bijagos Project is funded by the Blue Action Fund Foundation and implemented by the Regional Partnership for Coastal and Marine Conservation in West Africa (PRCM). The project seeks to develop two new marine protected areas (MPAs) and a connectivity corridor, while promoting sustainable livelihoods for local communities.
One of the main priorities of the project during this six-month period has been to put in place environmental safeguard instruments to ensure compliance with environmental and social standards.
In this connection, a field mission was conducted from 4 to 13 June 2024 in the Unhocomo-Unhocomozinho, Carache and Uno connectivity corridors. The mission provided an opportunity to meet directly with project beneficiaries, including women, the elderly, young people and fishermen, as well as local authorities. More than 300 people, including 186 women, took part in these information meetings on the project and the process of creating protected areas and implementing environmental and social protection instruments.
Establishment of a complaints management mechanism
To ensure compliance with environmental and social standards, PRCM has introduced environmental and social safeguard instruments. Based on national laws, these instruments include the complaints management mechanism, the FPIC Protocol (Protocol for Free, Prior, Informed and Consensual Consent) and stakeholder engagement.
This mechanism is aimed at responding to questions and providing clarifications about the project, resolving problems related to its implementation and effectively addressing complaints. Basically, it seeks to encourage the free and secure participation of beneficiary communities and all stakeholders. Complaints can be submitted anonymously via complaints boxes, by telephone, WhatsApp, email or SMS. At stake, this mechanism will help strengthen trust between beneficiaries and project managers, reduce any negative impacts and generate appropriate corrective measures.
IT equipment donated to IBAP
As the government body in charge of managing biodiversity and protected areas in Guinea-Bissau,the Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas (IBAP) is a key partner in the Blue Bijagos Project. To strengthen its capacities, PRCM handed over a sizeable batch of IT equipment to IBAP headquarters. The handover took place in the presence of IBAP Director Ms. Aissa Regalla De BARROS, and Project Coordinator Mr. Abilio Rachid SAID.
On this occasion, Ms. Aissa Regalla De BARROS expressed her gratitude to PRCM for this gesture, also stressing that this donation will increase IBAP’s efficiency, particularly in implementing the monitoring system and in collecting and processing data from protected areas, thereby considerably improving the management of these areas. She also commended PRCM as a reliable partner that has been supporting IBAP and other players in the environmental sector in Guinea-Bissau for many years.
Ms Aissa Regalla, IBAP Director, receiving the computer equipment from Mr Abilio Said, Blue Bijagos Project Coordinator
The Blue Bijagos project is an outstanding example of marine conservation in Africa. It demonstrates that it is possible to protect marine ecosystems while improving the livelihoods of local communities. The lessons learned from this project can be replicated in other parts of Africa and around the world to promote sustainable management of marine resources and inclusive blue development.
