A marine and coastal management plan for Limbe will soon see the light of day. This follows a stakeholders’ consultative meeting for the development of an integrated marine and coastal management plan for the Limbe City Council which took place on 29 December 2014.

This is within the framework of a project titled “Development of an integrated coastal zones strategy and capacity building for women who work along the fish value chain on climate change adaptation”. The project is being funded by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD. It will be run by Africa Resource Group-Cameroon Ltd (ARGCAM Ltd) in collaboration with the Limbe City Council.

The project has as objective the “Development of an integrated coastal Zone Management plan for Limbe which shall be considered a strategic document for the development of the municipality.” It will also integrate the effect of the effect of fishing activity from harvesting conservation and distribution of fishing products and strengthen the resilience of women involved in the fishing industry on the one hand and other preventive measures to the risk of climate change.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, the Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council, Andrew Motanga Monjimba, said because of Limbe’s position as a high risk zone, the project will go a long way to help the city in its environmental protection and conservation approach.

“Our city has faced a lot of environmental disasters; the Mabeta landslide incident in 2001 which killed over 21 persons, the numerous floods in the city and environmental pollution…” Motanga said.

On her part, the representative of the NEPAD Agency, Mme Esterine Fotabong, said climate change is a big phenomenon and everybody in the world is concerned. She added that many people in Limbe, including the fishing community, have expressed changes in weather patterns that are affecting their activities.

Mme Fotabong thus said the marine and coastal management plan will seek measures that the Limbe City Council can put in place to mitigate these and also support the fishermen.

The Senior Divisional Officer for Fako, Zang III, opening the meeting, said sustainable development is a roadmap for achieving sustainability in any activity. He added that sustainable development guarantees resources for future generations.

“This project will go a long way to improve on environmental policy to ensure the livelihood of communities,” Zang III said, stressing on the project’s sustainability.

During the stakeholders meeting, the fishing community from the various villages, the Limbe Down Beach community, experts and representatives from Sectorial Ministries among other stakeholders, brainstormed on the possible areas of the Coastal Marine Management plan.