Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel de la Gaspésie et des

Published purpose

The APOCEB initiative targets coastal communities in Cacheu park in Guinea Bissau, the Tristao islands in the Republic of Guinea, Niumi National Park in Gambia and the Abéné marine protected area in Senegal. The initiative aims to improve the economic, social and environmental development of these communities in a sustainable way, as well as the living, working and health conditions of its residents and the resilience of vulnerable populations to climate change. Ultimately, this project will benefit the 67,568 residents of the villages targeted in the four countries. The three key areas of focus are as follows: (1) Protecting and restoring mangroves and implementing a management plan for resources and renewable energy; (2) Enhancing and strengthening value chains, mariculture and tourism with waste management and the circular economy; (3) Promoting gender equality, the rights of the most vulnerable groups and youth employment in the economic governance of their activities in a climate change context. Certaines des innovations incluent l’accompagnement des groupes les plus vulnérables, les femmes et les jeunes, dans la mise en valeur des ressources naturelles et le développement d’une économie circulaire bleue durable. C’est-à-dire qu’APOCEB vise à commercialiser sans intermédiaires des produits à forte valeur ajoutée, exploités durablement pour permettre aux communautés visées de devenir des références sous régionales en matière d’exploitation et de valorisation durable des ressources. Une autre des innovations a trait à l’égalité des genres qui est définie dans le cadre du projet APOCEB par l’égalité des chances, entre autres dans le cadre d’activités d’économie circulaire. Cette composante de l’initiative permet aux jeunes femmes de bénéficier des mêmes droits et opportunités que les jeunes hommes. Pour garantir l’égalité des chances, les leaders féminins feront partie des comités de sélection aux côtés des experts locaux du projet. Les jeunes femmes seront notamment accompagnées et soutenues pour déposer leur candidature afin de limiter les effets de la pression sociale. The initiative aims to improve scientific knowledge on the various resources with a view to helping the communities with their sustainable management and development and collecting specific data about the areas in order to develop a predictive climate change model with the goal of ensuring the communities are better adapted. The project includes the following activities: (1) developing a specific training plan to equip women in choosing revenue-generating activities to be undertaken in a changing climate change context; (2) collecting field data in cooperation with women and young women to identify natural resources with a high potential; (3) selecting 20 young people per country to become climate ambassadors; (4) ensuring the reforestation of the mangroves and monitoring the replanted areas; (5) defining a circular economy model linked to the blue economy in the form of a target focus group across the various communities; (6) ensuring initial and ongoing training for women and young women involved in the processing units and sending out the units in the communities; and (7) developing a range of high value-added products that are targeted to consumer demand. CEGEP Gaspésie et des Îles is carrying out this project in partnership with the Institut Universitaire des Pêches et d'Aquaculture de Dakar [fisheries and aquaculture university institute of Dakar] (IUPA) in Senegal, the Institut de la Biodiversité et des Aires protégées [biodiversity and protected areas institute] (IBAP) in Guinea Bissau, the Centre National des Sciences Halieutiques de Boussoura [Boussoura fisheries science national centre] (CNSHB) in Guinea and the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management (DPWM) in Gambia.