West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change: Supporting ECOWAS Students' CITES Research-2 Final Report

The project's objectives were to refine research topics, develop work plans, organize inception workshops, supervise field work, and support the drafting of theses. The project focused on providing support to 14 wildlife specialists from ECOWAS member states, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The project's desired outcomes included strengthened capacities of regional and national institutions to combat wildlife trafficking, improve coastal resilience to climate change, and reduce deforestation, forest degradation, and biodiversity loss in West Africa. IUCN, in collaboration with the WA BiCC program, played a pivotal role in facilitating and supervising the participation of the wildlife specialists in the CITES Master program. The IUCN team provided technical and financial support to the students, including expertise and follow-up on two dimensions: technical and financial. The team also ensured the coordination of capacity building and played the role of main focal point between the students and their supervisors. The project's management and administration were overseen by IUCN, which followed up on the progress of the research works, dissertation, and budget utilization of the 14 wildlife specialists. Before the submission of their theses to the university, the IUCN team and WA BiCC staff provided a pre-final exam. The project's M&E coordinator, Frederic Dayamba, worked on tracking the performance indicators against the monitoring plan developed purposely as well as the project logical framework. The project's geographic focus was not on any particular landscape, as it did not involve field activities. Instead, it was oriented to provide support to the wildlife specialists in the conceptualization and implementation of research works followed by the development of knowledge products. The project's implementation was overseen by Arsene Sanon, who ensured the timely execution of the project components and the quality of both deliveries. The project's overall purpose and grant objectives were to provide technical and financial support to students from ECOWAS member countries enrolled in the CITES Master program. The project's key outcomes included providing support to students in refining their research topics, developing their work plans, organizing inception workshops, supervising field work, and supporting the drafting of theses. The project's desired outcomes included strengthened capacities of regional and national institutions to combat wildlife trafficking, improve coastal resilience to climate change, and reduce deforestation, forest degradation, and biodiversity loss in West Africa. The project's implementation was completed within the contractual period of performance, which was from 6 July 2018 through 31 March 2020. The project's overall purpose and grant objectives were achieved through the provision of technical and financial support to students from ECOWAS member countries enrolled in the CITES Master program. The project's key outcomes and desired outcomes were achieved through the implementation of the project's components, including the provision of support to students in refining their research topics, developing their work plans, organizing inception workshops, supervising field work, and supporting the drafting of theses. The project's management and administration were overseen by IUCN, which ensured the coordination of capacity building and played the role of main focal point between the students and their supervisors. The project's M&E coordinator, Frederic Dayamba, worked on tracking the performance indicators against the monitoring plan developed purposely as well as the project logical framework. The project's implementation was overseen by Arsene Sanon, who ensured the timely execution of the project components and the quality of both deliveries. The project's geographic focus was not on any particular landscape, as it did not involve field activities. Instead, it was oriented to provide support to the wildlife specialists in the conceptualization and implementation of research works followed by the development of knowledge products. The project's implementation was completed within the contractual period of performance, which was from 6 July 2018 through 31 March 2020.