© Greenpeace / Pierre Gleizes . Taziazet 1 alongside the Esperanza in West Africa, Mauritania-Western Africa. 2017. Editorial Team: Mbong Akiy, Nchemty Metini Ozongashu, Hellen Dena Contributors: Ahmed Diame, Bodhisattva Gupta, Deshanta Naidoo, Dr Ibrahima Cisse, Gerhard Combrink, Leola Abraham, Lindlyn Moma, Melita Steele, Nhlanhla Sibisi, Renee Olende, Toko Tomita, Victorine Che Thorner and Zane Ford Commissioned by: Greenpeace Africa Published: June 2018 by Greenpeace Africa Greenpeace Africa: 293 Kent Avenue, Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa Designed by: Kaitoma Creatives Printed on 100% recycled post-consumer paper with vegetable based inks. Cover photos: © Greenpeace. For more information contact: [email protected] © Greenpeace / Pierre Gleizes. Village on beach in Turtle Islands, Sierra Leone. 2017. on beach in Turtle Gleizes. Village / Pierre © Greenpeace Contents Executive Director’s Summary 04 Campaigns: Oceans Fighting Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing in West African Waters 06 Forests The World Dances for a Pristine Forest 12 Climate and Energy Bringing Light and Hope to Diepsloot – Project Sunshine 20 Food for Life Revamping the Food System in Kenya 28 Towards an Environmental Movement in Africa 34 What did our Volunteers Get Up to? 36 Working with Partners– Together we are Stronger 38 Maiden Internship Voyage in Greenpeace Africa 40 The Year in Numbers: FR Acquisitions 2017 and Sign-ups at a Glance 42 Finance 44 2017 : Looking Back at Greenpeace Globally 46 © Greenpeace / Philip Schedler. Njeri Kabeberi Greenpeace Africa Executive Director. South Africa. 2017. Executive Director’s Summary “To settle in” must be an alien concept at Greenpeace, because after 1 year and 2 months, I can honestly say I am still waiting for that moment. I hit the ground running with my first staff retreat in September 2016 and I haven’t stopped. Since our board meeting in April 2017, we have finalised We managed to launch our internship programme and two ship tours (covering nine [9] countries) with the recruited all the targeted staff during this period. Our Oceans and the Forest teams – and I hear these are only AGM was successful and our financial reports approved. for the “best and fittest” among us, successfully run a Furthermore, the ED attended two high level meetings, ‘crowdfunding’ project that surpassed its expectations one in Astana, Kazakhstan and the other in Geneva, in 30 days with the Climate and Energy team and won a Switzerland. Both platforms provided a great opportunity trophy in the prestigious Nairobi Agricultural show with to advance the goal for environmental sustainability and the Food for Life team. profile Greenpeace Africa at a global stage. In the same period, we received approval for our three There were many highlights in 2017, but it wasn’t all year strategic plan (3YSP), gained a license for Kenya and smooth sailing: partial licenses for West African countries. We continue to improve our internal systems and We maintained our fundraising growth and reached a sometimes with painful outcomes like retrenchments high of 134% in quarter two –continuing to top the global and reorganisations that are not always welcome to growth list. those affected. Nonetheless, in growth, change is the only constant. Our plastics reactive in Kenya hit an engagement number The Congo Basin Ship tour aborted prematurely due to of 2,068,172 (an all-time-high) and the same project challenges in dealing with the government in the recorded the highest number of volunteers ever in any of Republic of Congo. our countries. Overall, Greenpeace Africa had a great year and we are The second Greenpeace Africa Hub on the continent looking forward to an even more impactful 2018, having opened up in Kenya. Our security, office management and spent most of 2017 laying the groundwork for our 3YSP. IT teams outdid themselves amidst political uncertainty. Sincerely, The process to restructure the HR team began in earnest and is almost coming to fruition. We find the current security situation challenging, especially for the Congo Basin Ship Tour, where we witnessed our HR Director turn Security Director overnight. Tremendous and uncharted support saved the ship tour. Njeri Kabeberi, Executive Director 5 OCEANS © Greenpeace / Pierre Gleizes. MY Esperanza in Mauritania. 2017. / Pierre © Greenpeace Fighting illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in west african waters 6 Fighting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing During the eleven-week expedition, the Esperanza criss- that is plaguing West African fisheries has always been crossed the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of Cabo a priority for Greenpeace Africa’s Oceans Campaign. Verde, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone This commitment goes back a long way; before the and Senegal. This was to shed light on environmentally organisation decided to open an office in Dakar (the and economically unsustainable practices in some of capital of Senegal), in September 2010. the world’s most fertile waters. But this wasn’t the only objective of the ship tour. Investigation of IUU fishing Between March and May 2017, the commitment to protect was also a key component of the work conducted by West African waters reached a new level with the “Hope in Greenpeace during the ship tour. West Africa” ship tour. This was organised by Greenpeace in the territorial waters of the member States of the Sub- Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC). 7 Working in close co-operation with the permanent urbanisation, natural disasters, and overfishing. The latter secretary of the SRFC and the authorities of West African is exacerbated by Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated coastal states, the Greenpeace ship, MY Esperanza , also (IUU) fishing, which has fueled the loss of marine and conducted joint surveillance operations in the EEZ of coastal biodiversity, destruction of critical habitats and has Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Senegal. aggravated poverty. During the twenty days of joint surveillance operations at According to FAO, the region has one of the highest rates sea, 37 industrial fishing vessels were inspected. 17 vessels of overexploited fish stocks (54%). West Africa is one were found to be contravening applicable rules, including of the rare areas worldwide where fish consumption is 9 Chinese-flagged vessels, 1 Italian-flagged vessel, 1 South declining despite the fact that its waters are one of the Korean-flagged vessel, 4 Comoros-flagged vessels and 2 richest on earth. Last but not least, this region is one of Senegalese-flagged vessels. the most affected by IUU fishing. Today, it is unanimously accepted that all these ills are There is hope rooted in the weakness and/or lack of ambitious fishing policies in the various countries that make up the region. These results, obtained in such a short time, show the Developing fisheries policies that can ensure ecologically extent of IUU fishing and its consequences in West sustainable and socially acceptable remains the single African waters. There is a lot of uncertainty about the most important challenge facing countries individually amount of money lost each year, but estimates range and collectively. from millions to over a billion Euros. Individually, national policies remain embedded in short- These results show that there is hope: With the required term buildings rather than durability. Collectively, the political will, and commitment by West African states to countries are struggling to give their violins to move work hand in hand in an open and transparent manner, towards a regional management of the fisheries despite they can overcome the scourge of IUU that is destroying the fact that they have common destinies. By way of the fertile waters of West Africa. example, West Africa remains one of the few regions More importantly, it will be necessary to allow local and in the world that does not have a Regional Fisheries national civil society organisations to play their part in Management Organisation. This is no longer acceptable! this fight. They should be allowed access – in real time The “Hope in West Africa” tour gave us the opportunity – to information, through a system of total transparency, to discuss the need and urgency for the countries of the and invited to share experiences with the technical region to put aside their individual interests and work services of the administrations in charge of the fight together to preserve marine resources. against IUU fishing. From country to country, from port to port, the Esperanza Finally, coastal states should make an effort to ratify and vessel sailed the waters of the member states of the implement the regional and international conventions to Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SFRC) comprising end IUU fishing. Mauritania, The Gambia, Cabo Verde, Senegal, Guinea Be assured, Greenpeace will always stand alongside Bissau, Guinea and the Republic of Guinea. communities and relevant groups to make this happen. In each port, we invited local authorities and civil society to talk about the almost unique situation of Far west by themselves West African fisheries and the economic, social and ecological consequences of the lack of a regional fisheries Two words would sum up the situation currently management structure. prevailing in the African fisheries. Between plunder and political inaction, one of the most fish-rich regions in Greenpeace has documented and related some of the the world has gone downhill, taking with it the hope inconsistencies to the authorities