The Regional Marine and Coastal Forum of PRCM held every 18 months in a different capital city, gathers different categories of stakeholders from coastal and marine areas, including national and intergovernmental institutions, scientific institutions, national and international NGOs, socio-professional organizations, the private sector (fishing, tourism, oil) and financial partners.
They all share a common vision, which is about working “Together for a healthy and productive West African coast.” The Forum is thus a unique opportunity for dialogue both between countries in the sub-region and between different sectors of intervention about the developments of coastal and marine areas. In addition, the strategic directions of the PRCM, its governance system, as well as recommendations to stakeholders are discussed within this Forum. It is therefore a framework for:
• Disseminating the results and lessons learned in the area of conservation;
• Orienting the PRCM to better address the key constraints to the sustainable development of the coastal and marine zone, and emerging issues;
• Reviewing reports, strategic directions and all documents referred to the Forum;
• Strengthening the capacity of stakeholders on the West African coast;
• Promoting dialogue, information sharing and networking between coastal actors;
The forum usually gathers about 250 participants from over a hundred institutions from the 7 countries on the coast.