Case 3-6 Promoting the recruitment of new resources by establishing marine protected areas: case of the first MPA in Senegal

The Bamboun Marine Protected Area consists of the Bamboun Channel and its surrounding mangrove forests in the Saloum Delta, with a well-known fish spawning area. The Bamboun Channel is 12 km long, 50 to 500 m wide and 0 to 15 m deep. In 2001, the community of the village of Toubacouta, in the presence of the governor of the department of Foundiougne and the chief of the district of Toubacouta, adopted a proposal to establish Senegal’s first MPA, initiated by the Senegalese environmental NGO Oceanium.

Posters, stickers and T-shirts were distributed, films were shown, and private radio stations were used to raise awareness. In 2003, the Bamboun Channel was designated as a no-fishing zone, and inhabitants began monitoring the area. The Bamboun Channel and its basins were subsequently recognised as a national MPA by Decree No. 2004-1408 of 4 November 2004.The Bamboun MPA is jointly managed by the state and local communities and is administered by a management committee and a supervisory committee composed of inhabitants. To compensate for the economic loss of fishers due to restrictions on fishing activities, and to ensure employment for inhabitants and the costs of maintaining the reserve, Oceanium has introduced ecotourism and built community-run eco-lodges.

The Bamboun MPA was created through consensus with the local population, and the benefits of ecotourism compensate for local economic losses, while voluntary community monitoring is conducted. At first glance, this appears to be an ideal MPA. However, there are numerous problems. The time constraint of the project being run by an environmental NGO has resulted in insufficient explanation to inhabitants and a gap in understanding between villages. There is also another gap in understanding regarding the use of the channel between migrant fishers who consider the sea to be open access and local fishers who believe that the local sea belongs to the village. The legitimacy of the stakeholders’ interests around the Bamboun marine area is thus undermined.

When an externally initiated MPA is established, the organisation of the inhabitants responsible for its operation and management is often ‘community created’ by outside interests. Those with local political power or the ability to negotiate with the outside world tend to take the initiative, and the legitimacy of the MPA itself may subsequently be questioned.

Methods to encourage recruitment of new stocks include protection activities for spawning parent fish, such as the establishment of closed seasons, stock sanctuaries and fishery restriction zones, and the creation of spawning grounds, and protection activities for small undersized fish, such as release of undersized fish and regulation of fishing gear targeted at undersized fish.

This case is a useful reference for resource management activities that encourage the recruitment of new resources through the establishment of resource protection zones and fishery restriction zones. It contains important suggestions for considering the accuracy and applicability of the results of activities, especially when activities are led by external actors such as environmental NGOs.