By: Kemo Kanyi
The West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project (WACA) five-day training for stakeholders aimed at strengthening their capacity to understand and apply Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for urban resilience particularly in response to river flooding and erosion opened on Monday at the Ocean Bay Hotel in Bakau.
According to Muhammad Lamin Sanyang, WACA Project Coordinator in The Gambia, the main objective of the training is to equip key stakeholders with the skills to design, implement, and sustain NBS interventions under the WACA initiative.
He explained that the training focuses on integrating NBS into infrastructure planning and implementation, while fostering collaboration among stakeholders to achieve sustainable and inclusive outcomes.
“Key areas include understanding NBS, designing them for urban resilience, monitoring and evaluation, sustainability, and community and institutional engagement. We expect to dive into promoting inclusive approaches to NBS design and implementation, and building institutional frameworks to support nature-based policies and practices,” Mr. Sanyang stated.
Sixty participants were drawn from government ministries, departments and agencies, as well as technical experts from academia, the private sector, civil society organisations, and community representatives.
Mariama Ndow Jarju, Director at the Central Coordinating Unit under the Ministry of Environment, reaffirmed the Gambian government’s commitment to supporting the sustainability and success of the WACA project. She noted that the initiative complements national efforts to protect the country from the impacts of climate change.
Liliane Assogba Sessou, Regional Expert on Nature-Based Solutions at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Manon Cassara, Principal Environmentalist at the World Bank, both praised The Gambia’s preparedness and dedication to preserving its coastal areas from river flooding and erosion.
