Green Actors of West Africa

From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations

GAWA can be contacted through EFA (West Africa Eco-regional Focal Point for IUCN NL), currently serving as Interim Secretariat for GAWA, at:

Environmental Foundation for Africa
1 Beach Road
Lakka, Freetown Peninsula
PMB 34, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Tel: +232-76 611 410
Email: info@gawa.nu
Website: http://www.gawa.nu/

Description

The initial concept of Green Actors in West Africa was first discussed during a meeting of NC-IUCN’s West African partners in Aburi, Ghana (September, 2004) and was formalised at a meeting of partners in Cotonou, Benin (April, 2005).

GAWA is thus a network of Environmental NGOs from West Africa created in 2005 involved in environmental protection, rehabilitation, awareness raising, biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. The goal of GAWA Network is to develop ways of enhancing cooperation and coordination between and among the various donors and environmental (nature conservation) actors in this sub-African region. The geographic coverage of GAWA network members includes: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Togo.

The network has identified the following as immediate steps to ensure its effectiveness:

• Increase awareness on the urgent need to address the problems of destruction of the rainforest, from the grassroots to the highest levels so that everyone feels compelled to act;
• Build a highly motivated and spirited team of national and regional actors, equipped with the necessary means to initiate the changes required. Such a team should exhibit a high degree of trust and emotional commitment to each other and the cause;
• Increase communication to enhance wider participation by sending strong and sincere messages about the essence of change;
• Remove the existing barrier(s) between those with the necessary team spirit and shift attitudes from individualistic thinking towards more collective actions

During 2005-2006, members of the network decided to focus their efforts on:

• Advocacy, lobbying and strategic information gathering in local, national and regional contexts
• Enhancing the technical and financial capacities of environmental NGOs to meet the challenges and threats to the natural environment, resulting from livelihood activities
• Involvement of the local populations in biodiversity conservation and forest restoration
• Inventories of endangered and flagship species as well as direct efforts to promote protection of protected areas
• Environmental awareness and education at local, national and regional levels
• Improved availability of current information on threatened species and habitats
• Conflict management in biodiversity conservation initiatives

Funds from the Netherlands Committee of IUCN through the Tropical Rainforest Program (TRP) and Dry Areas Support have been very instrumental in initiating the regional network. Through direct budget support to its regional focal point, the Environmental Foundation for Africa (SL), NC-IUCN have enabled all country assessments, holding of regional network meetings and capacity building training programs for their partners in the sub-region.

Track Record

Since the GAWA network became a reality in 2005 after initial discussions at a meeting of partners in Cotonou, Benin, in March 2004, the network and its members have achieved remarkable results towards safeguarding the environment in West Africa. Collaboration is increasingly enhanced through this informal but united alliance of “green actors”. Members see the impact of their collective cooperation and focus on the environment at a regional level.

At the same time, GAWA members continued to implement projects independently within their home countries. These individual efforts are becoming more coordinated through exchange visits and peer project monitoring so as to scale-up their impact and make lasting improvements in environmental management of West Africa’s nature resources and socio-economic status of its people.

ENFORAC was formed in 2004 after its members decided that their individual efforts were not making the necessary impact on environmental issues required to influence decision-makers at the national level. For the first time, ENFORAC brought together most of the civil society actors for the environment in Sierra Leone. Such cooperation did two things that made it easier to realize goals:

• The forum strengthened the voice of the environmental movement in Sierra Leone. Through ENFORAC, public awareness has grown on environmental issues.
• Decision-makers and other key stakeholders now have direct and easy access to most national organizations in the environment sector.

ENFORAC has proved its ability to work together and coordinate actions in support of the environment in Sierra Leone. By pooling its collective resources and strengths, ENFORAC l continues to demonstrate the power of partnership.

Nationally, ENFORAC creates a place for local NGOs to engage partners previously beyond their grasp. For example, the executive commissioner of the government of Sierra Leone’s newly formed National Commission for Environment and Forestry (NaCEF) works directly with ENFORAC, sharing ideas and collaborating on key funding opportunities.

The organization promoted solar energy in Benin and demonstrated the importance of networks and partnership by creating a replicable model for encouraging solar energy. It also facilitated reforestation in the forested region of Togo through environmental and social awareness, raising and training: identification of an economically viable plant species of interest to the target populations; participatory approach with strong community involvement and decision-making; and involvement of women.

If scaled-up to the regional level, the principles underlying these individual projects promise to result in widespread improvement of the integrity of nature in West Africa.

Challenges

Collaboration takes trust and time. Support for environmental projects is difficult to earn, and at first individual NGOs were concerned that sharing ideas with each other might mean losing out on financing opportunities. It is a challenge to bring together previous competitors and demonstrate the value of dedicating time and resources to seek consensus and advocate for the environment from one platform.

Finding time to dedicate to the forum proved difficult for most members early on. It was hard to see how meeting and talking could lead to real benefits. Members must contribute a small monthly fee to the forum, although it did not raise any external funds for project activities in the first two years of planning and learning. Encouraging each other to participate in the forum took a lot of effort.