Ahead of the Curve: GRID-Arendal Annual Report 2016

State of Environment and Spatial Planning The right information for sound decisions

Without the right information, sound decisions about the environment cannot be made. GRID- Arendal contributes to improved environmental stewardship in coastal states by supporting capacity building in state of the environment assessments and marine spatial planning. Tools, methodologies and web platforms have been developed to collect and present environmental data and information to support better environmental decision making. These activities include a mix of global, regional and country based activities with focus on developing countries in Africa and the Small Island Developing States of the Pacific.

Tumbu fishing village in Sierra Leone. Photo:GRID-Arendal

The ability of several West African states to conduct state of the marine environment assessments has been greatly enhanced through GRID-Arendal’s engagement with the Abidjan Convention and its member states. The development of a coastal zonemanagement plan last year for Sierra Leone was a direct result of the 2015 State of the Marine Environment Report GRID-Arendal developed for that country.

within the region. This has led to several countries in the Guinea Current region producing draft reports using a method called “expert elicitation” where the opinions of experts and stakeholders are synthesised into “data” to support the assessment of environmental conditions. GRID-Arendal has also started using this approach in the Caribbean where we will support the UN Environment regional seas organization, the Cartagena Convention Secretariat, with its State of the Convention Area Report programme in 2017.

The Abidjan Convention Secretariat is using the report to guide other State of the Marine Environment Reports

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