The West African bloc Economic Community of West African States has proposed creating a vast 200,000-square-kilometer marine protected area in the Atlantic Ocean, aiming to safeguard ecosystems long threatened by overfishing, shipping traffic, and plastic pollution. The proposed zone would stretch from Cabo Verde and Senegal in the region’s north to Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe in its south. The proposal arrives just as the world’s first legally binding High Seas Treaty comes into effect, following nearly two decades of negotiations. If implemented, the initiative would mark a significant step toward environmental protection, potentially limiting industrial fishing and deep-sea mining in the region. More importantly, it would assert African sovereignty over waters long dominated by foreign powers.
Semafor
