Abidjan Convention Sustainable Seas Pilot Workshop

availability of data for marine assessments • What are the data gaps in biological, physico- chemical and socio-economic data about the ma- rine environment? • Is there enough capacity in the region to obtain data from global, regional local sources and an- alyse the data in the framework of e.g. National State of the Marine Environment reporting? The groups concluded that marine data is available but dispersed in research centers, universities, min- istries and national bureaus of statistics. Regionally the Large marine Ecosystems (LMEs), Canary Curent (CCLME), Guinea Current (GCLME) and Benguela Cur- rent (BCLME) are a source of information. The acces- sibility depends on the nature of the data, with some data being confidential. Socio-economic data are in general fairly easy to obtain at the National Bureaus of Statistics (although data on some subjects is lim- ited). In general data access can be categorized in: • Open access data: can be obtained free of charge at the data holding institutions. • Data requiring official approval. • Data for which a consultation fee is required. In general there is a need in the region to improve the different aspects of marine data and information management through capacity building: data acqui- sition, data management, data conversion and trans- fer into a useable format and data archiving.

Data issues and gaps: • Data calibration and formatting. • Data loss (because data is kept by the scientists and eventually lost). • Lack of time series of sufficient quality. • Lack of funding for data collection. • Lack of qualified and specialized personnel to deal with data management. • Although data and information is available, the decision making level does not make use of it. • Funding for data collection is ad hoc (project- based). In general there are insufficient tools and equipment available for data collection. There is a need for ca- pacity building (including north-south and south- south exchange of expertise). Other organizations such as ODINAFRICA and GI WACAF may be able to help on the capacity building side. Recommendations • Development of National Environmental Data Centers, responsible for collection and manage- ment of marine environmental and socio-econom- ic data and information for marine management purposes (mid/long term).

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• Capacity building activities on data management (mid-term).