Ministry of the Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources Strategic Plan (2019-2022).

This Strategic Plan, covering the period 2019-2022, has been developed to pursue the sustainable management of environmental and natural resources and address climate change issues for the benefit of all citizens in a coordinated manner, in line with other Laws and Policies and particularly with the National Development Plan and its key issues: land degradation, coastal erosion, loss of forest cover, biodiversity loss, ineffective waste management, the management of pesticides, and the mitigation of climate change impacts on the country. Therefore this Strategic Plan identifies two important outcomes to achieve: strengthening of the environmental policy and the appropriate land use planning and management. The Plan recognises the environment and climate change as two cross-cutting issues, impacted by various other sectors and sub-sectors of the economy: sustainable use and protection of all forest resources in The Gambia, including private forests, forest reserves and plantations; conservation and protection of biodiversity resources within and outside protected areas; ecotourism promotion; domestic and commercial consumption of wildlife; domestic and safari hunting; development of the Gambian fisheries sector and conservation and sustainable utilisation of fisheries resources, establishment of total allowable catch regulated through licensing and prohibitions related to fishing gear and methods, aquaculture development and protection of aquatic resources natural habitats, preventing the introduction of invasive species into aquatic ecosystems; inappropriate disposal of waste into the environment; dumping of wastes, limited access to clean water and poor air quality and related risks to human health and well-being.
This Strategic Plan is aligned with the NDP in its overall goal to deliver good governance and accountability, social cohesion, and national reconciliation, and a revitalised and transformed economy for the well-being of all Gambians, and therefore articulates eight strategic objectives and several priority actions in order to contribute to the realisation of the four NDP strategic objectives: 1) promote socially responsive integrated environmental management; 2) strengthened management of natural resources and ecosystems; 3) strengthening a national system of protected areas (forest, wildlife sanctuaries, marine parks, and well capture zones) to address the problem of biodiversity loss; 4) Strengthening of institutional leadership capacities; 5) strengthening of the institutional framework for environmental coordination and management at local and national levels; 6) enhancement of stakeholder participation in natural resources management by promoting public private partnerships; 7) mobilisation of sufficient financial resources for strategic plan implementation; 8) implementation of programs and activities in partnership with other government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, civil society, the private sector, and international development partners.
The Plan provides an implementation strategy that contributes to the economic security for present and future generations and thus follows: a programme-based approach; public education, awareness-creation and advocacy; the realisation of strategic partnership; the harmonisation of key strategic policies. On these bases, the Plan defines the following priority actions: build the capacities of youth and women in natural resources management; promote the use of technology in mapping natural resources with early warning systems; strengthening the legal framework for waste management and disposal methods; enhance communities capacity to reduce, re-use and recycle waste; strengthen the ban on plastic bags; conduct public awareness campaign on the dangers and the use of hazardous chemical substances and pesticides and promote integrated pest management methods; promote and conduct research on the use of bio-pesticides; setup a team of coastal management observers; promote transfer of ownership of forest land from the State to the local communities; promote ecotourism in forest parks and forest management; support private forests management; establish a national task force to address bush fires and manage forest fires; promote the sustainable land management through agroforestry practices; encourage the use of alternative energy sources; implement an effective management programme for wildlife, including internationally threatened and endangered species; establish protected areas.