Marine protected areas for whales, dolphins, and porpoises: a world ...

Habitat Protection for Cetaceans around the World 235
• The South Equatorial Current flows west from the coast south of the
Equator.
• The Guinea Current moves east and southeast toward the coast of the Gulf
of Guinea, carrying warm water.
• The Benguela Current brings cool water in along the coast of the southwest
African zone before turning offshore at about 6º S.
• Finally, on South Africa’s east coast, the Agulhas Current carries warm
water southwest to the southern tip of Africa.
These and other oceanographic and atmospheric factors create a band of
upwellings along extensive parts of the African coastline, a few tens of
kilometres from land, at different times of year. Off northwest Africa,
upwellings mainly occur from October to April. Offshore Senegal has areas of
particularly high productivity. In the Gulf of Guinea, especially in the northern
part, some upwellings occur from June to September. Southern Africa,
especially off Namibia, has strong upwellings in August and weak upwellings
from November to February.
A dominant coastal and nearshore feature from Angola to Mauritania is the
mangrove forest which in some areas forms a dense band up to 30 miles (50
km) out from the coast, in addition to substantial extensions up rivers. The
densest mangroves are in Cameroon, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-
Bissau, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, although much has been cleared in recent
years. There are numerous river deltas along the west coast, such as the River
Gambia, the Volta River in Ghana, the Niger in Nigeria and the Congo River in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some have permanent tidal swamps
which extend up to 124 mi (200 km) upstream, many containing mangroves
and supporting various dolphin populations besides the important marine and
freshwater fish and bird species. The west coast of Africa has no true coral
reefs and only isolated coral communities.
A regional conservation treaty, as part of the UNEP Regional Seas
Programme, came into force in 1984: The Convention for Cooperation in the
Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the
West and Central African Regions, along with the Protocol on Combating
Pollution in Cases of Emergency. Initiatives have focused on efforts to control
pollution and to develop the infrastructure to manage the marine environment.
In 1995, there was a total of 42 MPAs of all kinds in this marine region
(Wells and Bleakley, 1995). The region is divided into five biogeographic zones,
all but one of which was represented by at least one MPA. As of 2004,
according to Table 5.11 prepared for this book, there are 41 existing and 6
proposed MPAs which feature cetacean habitat. The area also forms part of a
proposed international cetacean sanctuary for the South Atlantic Ocean,
initiated through the IWC, which has yet to be approved. It would serve as a
sanctuary from whaling and could be a stepping stone here towards greater
protection and recognition of cetacean habitat needs.
The IUCN 2002–2010 Conservation Action Plan for the World’s Cetaceans
recommends a number of research initiatives for this region (Reeves et al,
2003):