Regional node - Africa
Introducing ECOP Africa
Shallow Water Life, Mayotte Island. Credit: Gaby Barathieu / Ocean Image Bank
The vision of ECOP Africa is to empower its members with important professional and networking opportunities to engage in discussions and actions which will culminate to a sustainable ocean beyond the Decade.
We hope to achieve this by serving as the mainstream organization enhancing ECOPs’ engagement in Africa during this UN Decade of Ocean Science and create capacities for ECOPs in Africa to network and actively engage in the ocean conservation agenda beyond the decade.
Given the differences in regional policies, practices, capacities, and challenges, development of this regional node is crucial in addressing the needs and priorities of ECOPs in Africa. Additionally, being one of the regions with a wider distribution and diversity of ECOPs given its size, ECOP African node will enhance awareness and participation of its members in addressing the ocean decade agenda as well as identify their potential and lessons for replication in other regions.
Extending from the Middle East all the way to Indonesia in Southeast Asia, ECOP Asia aims to develop and nurture a vibrant, engaged, and inclusive regional ECOP community in Asia, conducive to inter-generational and cross-cultural dialogues, knowledge exchange, multi-sectoral partnerships, and transformative ocean solutions. The network has significantly grown over the past two years and keeps expanding its horizons and ambitions further.
Goals and objectives
Our goal is to foster ocean sustainability by creating capacities for ECOPs in Africa to network and actively engage in the ocean conservation agenda beyond the decade.
The objectives of ECOP Africa will include, but are not limited to, the following:
- To conduct an inventory of the existing ECOPs initiatives and networks in Africa that support ECOPs’ activities for further consultations towards development of the regional node.
- To establish linkages with strategic partners and institutions such as regional organizations, research institutions, businesses, governmental sectors and National Decade Committees.
- To identify ECOP specific needs and priorities, including knowledge gaps for capacity development in Africa and its sub-regions.
- To mobilize resources and coordinate implementation of capacity development related activities for its members such as on-line short courses, in-person trainings, ship-board trainings, implementing business ideas and other conservation projects.
- To develop capacities for sub-regional and local ECOP networks to foster more responsible early career ocean citizenry, sound corporate practices, and local conservation initiatives specific to their thematic topics or spatial areas or concerns.
- To work in collaboration with ECOPs in other regions and Task Teams for the general success of the ECOP Global Programme.
ECOP Africa Membership Distribution
ECOP Africa Coordinating Team
ECOP Africa welcomes you to join the network and share your activities and opportunities related to the UN Ocean Decade. The first thing we would encourage you to do is subscribe to our global monthly newsletter at this link here. You will be asked whether you would like your contact details to be added to our global registry, which directly connects to the membership map shown above.
Ready to make a difference and contribute to our regional ECOP movement? Express your commitment to driving change by initiating a national ECOP node or suggesting a new working group (read our Onboarding Handbook here). Let’s take action together and amplify the voices of African ECOPs within the transformative framework of the UN Ocean Decade!
Don’t hesitate to reach out to us and share your ideas at: africa@ecopdecade.org.
For any specific questions or enquiries, please feel free to contact our Regional and National Coordinators or any of our Focal Points listed below:
Regional task team coordinators
Regional Coordinator Predecessors
