West Africa’s regional bloc, Ecowas, has proposed to designate a 200,000k㎡ ecosystem in the Atlantic Ocean as a marine protected area.
The world’s high seas — international waters beyond any country’s control — have long been exposed to overfishing, shipping, and plastic pollution. After nearly two decades of negotiations, the first-ever legally binding High Seas Treaty took effect last month in a move to protect marine life.
The waters off the coast of West Africa stretch from Cabo Verde and Senegal in the north to Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe in the south.
Ecowas’ proposal could help to restrict industrial fishing and deep-sea mining exploration in the region, environmental journalism platform Dialogue Earth reported. “It would also assert African sovereignty over waters traditionally heavily influenced by external powers,” wrote Mustapha Manneh.