The National Assembly's Select Committee on Environment, Sustainable Development and NGO Affairs has warned that weak enforcement, inadequate funding, institutional conflicts and illegal activities are undermining the management of coastal and marine protected areas of the country.

The committee said eight of the country's sixteen designated coastal and marine protected areas do not have approved management plans, while existing plans are also struggling because of insufficient funding and manpower.

The findings are contained in the committee's report on the Performance Audit of the Management of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas, dated September 2026. The report said illegal fishing, pollution, poaching and mangrove destruction continued to threaten protected ecosystems, while weak enforcement and inadequate community engagement had contributed to environmental degradation.

The committee also questioned the reported level of progress towards the country's target of conserving at least 10% of coastal and marine areas under Sustainable Development Goal 14.5. According to the report, official records claim that 9.25% of marine areas have been conserved, but the committee said the figure was not supported by sufficient scientific data or a transparent methodology.

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"The reported 9.25 percent conservation achievement for marine areas lacks supporting scientific data and a transparent methodology," the report said.

It added that there was no standardized national framework for measuring and reporting progress towards the SDG 14.5 target. The committee said the absence of such a framework made it difficult to verify the reported conservation progress, monitor ecological changes over time and ensure that national reporting was aligned with international sustainability standards.

The committee identified what it described as policy incoherence among several government institutions responsible for land, tourism, agriculture and the environment. It said conflicting mandates existed between the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The absence of a comprehensive national land-use policy, it said, had contributed to encroachment into protected areas. The report specifically identified the development of fuel stations and dry port infrastructure within protected areas as examples of the problem. The committee said the institutional framework for managing coastal and marine protected areas remained fragmented and under-resourced.

"The lack of a standardised monitoring framework makes it difficult to accurately measure conservation progress," the report said.

It added that limited funding, inadequate staffing and weak enforcement mechanisms were undermining existing policies and conservation initiatives.

The committee also raised concerns about the capacity of the department responsible for managing protected areas. It said the Department responsible for protected areas lacked a functional monitoring and evaluation system. Park rangers, according to the report, often lacked basic operational resources, including uniforms and protective equipment. The committee also said there were concerns about the professional qualifications of some rangers and a significant shortage of qualified personnel in protected areas management.

It said budget allocations were largely directed towards recurrent expenditure rather than field equipment and operational support. The report also raised concerns about the financing of conservation activities.

The committee said the Biodiversity Trust Fund existed but remained largely underutilised. It found that only four of the 16 protected sites generated revenue through gate fees, while there was limited engagement with private-sector partners.

The committee also raised accountability concerns over the management and use of donor funds, including funding from the Global Environment Facility. It said the financing weaknesses were contributing to difficulties in managing protected areas effectively.

The committee found that half of the country's coastal and marine protected areas eight out of 16 did not have approved management plans. Even where management plans existed, the committee said their implementation remained weak because of insufficient funding and manpower.

The committee said effective conservation could not depend only on declaring areas as protected. It called for stronger systems to measure conservation progress, clearer land-use policies, properly funded management plans, effective monitoring and stronger community participation.

The committee said illegal fishing, pollution, poaching and mangrove destruction remained major threats to protected ecosystems.

"Weak enforcement capacity and inadequate community engagement have contributed to environmental degradation," the report said.

The committee recommended stronger enforcement mechanisms and community-based conservation initiatives to reduce illegal activities. It also called for greater involvement of local communities in the management of protected areas.

The committee recommended that the government establish a standardised national methodology for measuring marine conservation coverage and reporting progress towards SDG 14.5. It also called for the development of a comprehensive national land-use policy to prevent encroachment into protected areas.

The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources was urged to strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems to track the ecological and operational performance of protected areas. The committee further recommended that government budgets should give greater priority to operational capacity, including ranger equipment, surveillance systems and field logistics.

It called for the Biodiversity Trust Fund to be fully operationalised with transparent governance and accountability mechanisms.

"All protected areas should develop and implement management plans with adequate staffing and financial support," the committee recommended.

The committee also recommended collaboration between the ministry and the University of The Gambia to develop relevant curricula and expand local training opportunities in protected-area management.

The committee's review was conducted as part of its parliamentary oversight responsibility to assess the effectiveness of the institutional, policy, financial and operational arrangements established for the protection and sustainable management of the country's coastal and marine ecosystems. The committee said coastal and marine protected areas were important national assets that contributed to biodiversity conservation, food security, climate resilience and sustainable economic development.

The report was signed by Hon. Yaya Gassama, chairperson of the Select Committee on Environment, Sustainable Development and NGO Affairs.