Cape Verde: democratic planning and practice

Cape Verde s second National Environment Action Plan (PANA II), a development programme for the period 2004-2014, outlines strategies for the rational use of natural resources and the sustainable management of economic activities, identifying development opportunities that are compatible with the environment and which may contribute to poverty reduction. PANA II echoes the approaches of the Johannesburg Summit of September 2002. Its aim is to influence public sector activities, but also to be taken up by civil society, leading to concrete results in the private sector. The plan is based on an evaluation of natural resources, which are viewed as assets and services to the environment, used by Man for various ends (production, space, protection, regulation) or for cultural and aesthetic purposes. Taking a decentralised approach, various Municipal Environmental Plans (PEM) have also been drawn up by local teams, with the help of participants from the municipe. These PEM therefore reflect the viewpoints and expectations of local people on common problems, as well as on the solutions found for them. This democratic process, which involved a number of meetings attended by more than 3,000 local people, led to the design of a range of development programmes, supported by studies carried out at global level. The idea is that since local communities have been involved in creating this programme, they are more likely to take its components on board. Direcção General do Ambiente Ministério do Ambiente Agricultura e Pescas Praia Cape Verde Email : sepa@cvtelecom.cvCape Verde s second National Environment Action Plan (PANA II), a development programme for the period 2004-2014, outlines strategies for the rational use of natural resources and the sustainable management of economic activities, identifying developme