November 14, 2025 - online meeting
The AdaptWAP project Interim Steering Committee meeting brings together national and regional institutions and technical partners involved in the collaborative management of the W-Arly-Pendjari transboundary complex. It provides a strategic forum for analyzing progress, identifying persistent constraints, and collectively adjusting the strategies needed to consolidate the project's outcomes. In a context of intensifying climate and anthropogenic pressures across the largest continuum of protected terrestrial ecosystems in West Africa, AdaptWAP contributes to strengthening adaptation efforts and the WAP communities resilience.
Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, OSS Executive Secretary, emphasized the need to maintain high standards in the project's implementation. The nine-month extension granted by the Adaptation Fund provides an opportunity for higher quality activities to be completed under better conditions. The call was reiterated for rigorous monitoring of the services provided by local operators and civil society organizations to guarantee technical compliance and the sustainability of the deliverables. However, it was said that access to AdaptWAP green loans, an innovative financing mechanism for resilient income-generating activities, remains below the expectations, and immediate corrective measures would help foster greater ownership of the mechanism by local communities.
The session also welcomed the official establishment of the WAP Complex Executive Secretariat, a significant step in the complex's governance. This new structure, will play a key role in transboundary coordination and will benefit from the technical and institutional achievements of the AdaptWAP project as well as the ongoing support of the OSS.
Technical discussions focused on the progress of the activities, the implementation of the 2025 Steering Committee meeting recommendations, and the overall performance of the project. National and regional teams presented the progress made, the obstacles encountered, and the priority actions to be taken until the project's final closure, besides the remaining stages planning, the reports consolidation, and the financial execution optimization.
All stakeholders took the meeting to reaffirm their shared commitment and ensure the effectiveness of interventions and the sustainability of the achievements. Hopefully, the decisions made will strengthen the dynamic of collective action for ecosystem resilience, local development, and transboundary stability. The renewed commitment of national institutions, regional partners, and the OSS confirms the WAP complex's position as a model of environmental cooperation and shared governance, driving innovation for the benefit of local communities and biodiversity.
The W-Arly-Pendjari complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, faces multiple threats: habitat degradation, land-use conflicts, poaching, overgrazing, and climate variability. The AdaptWAP project supports the three countries in integrating adaptation measures into the collaborative management of this territory, through institutional capacity building, improved local livelihoods, and ecological restoration interventions. The past six months have allowed for the consolidation of significant achievements, particularly in reforestation, assisted natural regeneration, the development of agro-sylvo-pastoral infrastructure, and capacity building for local stakeholders.