Group photo of Yaounde workshop
By Ngalame Elias
The Niger Basin Authority’s project to improve knowledge-based management and governance of the Niger Basin and the Iullemeden – Taoudéni/Tanezrouft aquifer system’ (NB-ITTAS) is holding a two days session of the regional platform in Yaounde, Cameroon May 14-16, 2025.
The workshop brings together members of the regional bureau of the platform, the Presidents and vice Presidents of the platforms of the Mount Mandara trans-boundary ecosystem.
In 2023, the project initiated a mission to ‘formulate pilot demonstration projects based on innovative/ecological technologies, design a capacity development programme and a joint monitoring system to support the governance structures of the functional platforms of the Park W, Mount Mandara and Yamoussa BSB complex ecosystems’. The products of this mission were validated at regional workshops held on 26-28 June 2024 in Ouagadougou for Parc W, on 08-10 July 2024 in Abuja for Mont Mandara and on 11-13 July 2024 in Abuja for the BSB Yamoussa complex. Following these regional workshops, the NB-ITTAS project will i) support each of the countries concerned by these cross-border ecosystems in setting up national and regional platforms and building the capacity of regional platforms.
The general aim of this meeting in Yaounde according to MINEPAT officials is to operationalise the regional platform for managing the ecosystem of the cross-border natural complex.
Specifically, the aim is to (1) capitalise on the process of operationalising the regional platform; (2) draw up an action plan and a resource mobilisation strategy for 2025; and
(3) draw up a strategy for implementing the action plan and monitoring ecosystem surveillance and control indicators.
The participants are the members of the regional platform bureau, two facilitators and the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the national platforms of the cross-border ecosystem.
The NB-ITTAS project covers 11 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Algeria and Mauritania. Its aim is to improve the management, governance and conservation of knowledge-based resources in the Niger Basin and the aquifer systems of the NB-ITTAS region. It is structured into 4 components, the implementation of which should help to achieve 4 results.
Achieving Outcome 4 of Component 4, entitled ‘Capacity building and stakeholder involvement in ecosystem-based management of the River Niger’, also requires national institutions to contribute to the management of transboundary terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands with platforms for cooperative action, and to develop capacities to meet current emerging challenges and promote collaborative monitoring mechanisms.
To this end, the NB-ITTAS project has identified three ecosystems, namely i) the transboundary ecosystem of the Mandara Plateau mosaic grouping Cameroon and Nigeria; ii) the binational transboundary complex of Sena Oura / Bouba Ndjida grouping Cameroon and Chad; iii) the transboundary natural complex Parc W grouping Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, for experimentation in the contribution of national institutions to the management of these ecosystems. This experimentation took shape in 2021 through the study on setting up governance structures for these platforms, which was validated in March 2022.
The official opening of the Yaounde workshop was chaired by the Director of the Department of Regional and Border Areas Development (DATMZF) at the Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development (MINEPAT), Guy Debok Nghemning, representing Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey.
Key Expected Outcomes
- Enhanced Governance: Improved understanding of groundwater resources and their connections to surface water.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Involvement of Niger Basin user associations and NGOs in resource management and conservation.
- Systematic Approach: A structured method to mitigate environmental issues, including pollution and biodiversity loss.
- Policy Development: Strengthening policies for the sustainable management of the Niger River ecosystem.
Global Objective
To establish a national platform for the transboundary ecosystem of the Sena Oura/Bouba Ndjida complex in Cameroon.
Specific Objectives
– Facilitate discussions among various stakeholder categories to designate their representatives.
– Set up the different organs of the national platform for managing the Sena Oura/Bouba Ndjida transboundary complex