Guinea: Progress on the SEA for the Bafing Falémé landscape

28 March 2024

In the first week of March, the NCEA facilitated a workshop in Conakry to discuss the progress on the Strategic Environmental Assessment for the landscape of Bafing Falémé.

In 2022, the NCEA signed an MoU with the ministry of environment & sustainable development in Guinea, starting a cooperation on three processes related to Environmental and Social Assessment. The SEA for the Bafing Falémé landscape, which is one of these projects, aims at creating synergies between new activities in the region, such as the establishment of protected areas, the construction of dams and the development of mining projects. 

In the workshop several members of the interministerial commission responsible for the development of the SEA, reiterated their commitment to the SEA and explored the challenges linked to this process. This commission consists of several parties, including ministries of environment and mining as well as ministries of water and territorial development. The lack of experience with the SEA approach and limited financial and human resources were identified as the main challenges. After the workshop, the NCEA joined the ministry of environment in a conversation with potential donors to find additional funding for finalising the SEA. 

The support of the NCEA during this week was very much appreciated, and a follow-up workshop will be organised to discuss the results to date and to look at the next steps in the process.