Regional Workshop on Oil Spill Monitoring and Response in West Africa
Date: 2025-11-11 - 2025-11-13
Location: Accra, Ghana
Indicators: 14.2.1
Partners: GEMS Ocean Programme, Abidjan Convention Secretariat, University of Ghana- GMES Africa- MarCNoWA Project, Africa Space Agency.
Topic:
Overview
Oil spills continue to pose a significant threat to marine and coastal ecosystems, livelihoods, maritime safety and regional stability in West and Central Africa.
Increasing offshore petroleum activities, dense shipping traffic and transboundary ocean dynamics mean that effective oil spill preparedness and response can no longer rely solely on patrols, ad hoc reporting or post-incident assessments.
In this context, Earth Observation (EO)–based monitoring and predictive modelling provide a critical capability for early detection, objective evidence generation and informed decision-making.
The Regional Workshop on Oil Spill Monitoring and Response brought together national authorities, regional institutions and technical partners to strengthen the operational use of EO tools, with particular emphasis on the MarCNoWA Oil Spill Detection and Drift Modelling Service, and to align these capabilities with obligations under the Abidjan Convention.
