As part of the “Regional Governance of Protected Areas in West Africa” project, funded by the European Union, experts from Burkina, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana held a workshop from August 18 to 20, 2021 in Ouagadougou. The objective was to encourage networking and cooperation between the actors involved in the fight against environmental crime (LCE) around and within the PoMoCo complex (PONASI, Mole National Park, Comoé National Park).

The European Union, in consultation with ECOWAS and UEMOA, has selected a support action for the preservation of biodiversity and fragile ecosystems, environmental governance and climate change in West Africa. The mission of this synergy is to fight effectively against environmental crime. Thus, the program called “PAPBio” (Support Program for the Preservation of Biodiversity and Fragile Ecosystems, Environmental Governance and Climate Change in West Africa) was adopted for this purpose as part of the implementation of the Regional Indicative Program (RIP) following discussions in member countries. The workshop, bringing together 30 experts from Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, is being held as part of the "Regional governance of protected areas in West Africa" project, whose component 2 PAPBio is implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), funded by the European Union. This meeting aims to promote and strengthen regional cooperation in the fight against environmental crime. The expected results are firstly, that the actors in the fight against environmental crime (ELC) around and within the PoMoCo cross-border landscape are networked. Then, that there is a sharing of experiences, knowledge and difficulties both on the LCE and on aspects related to the security of protected areas. Finally, that these actors be trained in the use of the regional information system on environmental crime.