Progress in Finalising the Marine and Coastal Areas Chapter of the “GMES & Africa Action Plan” (GAAP)

The African continent has over 35,000 km of coastline, coastal and marine environments, which make an enormous contribution to both national and regional food security, coastal livelihoods and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This paper is focused on disseminating recent progress in updating the Marine and Coastal Areas Chapter of the GMES and Africa Action Plan (GAAP) in preparation for the Africa - EU Summit in April 2014 and implementation of GMES and Africa. The contributing authors of Chapter 6 (Brundrit et al. 2012) and the associated Implementation Plan are referenced at the end of this paper. GMES and Africa is focused on establishing an overall African framework for Earth Observation (EO) applications, based on a long term equitable and transparent partnership between African and European stakeholders. Finalising the GMES and Africa Action Plan (GAAP) is a key priority for the Space area under the Africa - EU Strategy, and will be discussed during the next EU - Africa Summit in April 2014. The objective of GMES & Africa is to strengthen Africa’s capacity and ownership of EO activities. It acknowledges the importance of past and present programs, and recognises the need for greater coordination to avoid duplication, increase synergies and enhance complementarities. This paper provides background and presents the methodology used during expert working group meetings organised by BRAGMA (Bridging Actions for GMES and Africa) in cooperation with the European Commission and African Union Commission. The series of workshops brought together African and European thematic experts to contribute to the finalization of the GMES & Africa baseline study and endorsement of a GMES & Africa Action Plan through consultation with African Member States. It shares results from a Marine and Coastal Areas Workshop held in Mombasa, Kenya, 9-10 October 2012. BRAGMA is co-funded under FP7 to support and facilitate necessary dialogue and coordination to implement the GMES & Africa process. This is coordinated with the European Commission (DG CNECT, DEVCO, ENTR) and the African Union Commission.

CUNNINGHAM Paul;  SCOTT Lucy;  VAN WIMERSMA GREIDANUS Herman;  BADAL Rezah;  WIAFE George;  BERNARD Stewart; 

2014-11-19

Global Spatial Data Infrastrucure (GSDI) Association

JRC86507

http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14/prog_details.html,    http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14/papers/159.pdf,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC86507,