Ocean & Coastal Management 42 (1999) 71—76 Recent development paper Overview of the marine environmental problems of the West and Central African region Aka Marcel Kouassi *, Charles Biney  Centre de Recherches Oce & anologiques, BP V18 Abidjan, Ivory Coast  Institute of Aquatic Biology, P.O. Box 38 Achimota, Ghana Abstract A review of the environmental problems caused by land-based activities in the West and Central African region is presented. Action at national or regional levels being taken or contemplated about the priority environmental issues are identified. Finally, the extent of integrated pollution prevention, or control strategy, arrangements and extent of integrated coastal area management arrangements in place are discussed.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The West and Central African region is made up of 21 countries stretching from Mauritania in the north to Namibia in the south. The bulk of the population is employed in agriculture and, on a global basis, these countries are relatively less technologically developed. Except for a few areas, the costal population densities are also relatively low. Thus, the potential for degradation of the marine environment in this region, as a result of discharges of contaminants and other land-based activities, should normally not be a cause for concern. This, however, is not the case because, without exception, the costal zones of these countries have been the major areas for industrial development [1]. Except for Cameroun, all the capital cities are located along the coast. The result is a continuous and uncontrolled migration of prospective workers from inland rural * Corresponding author. E-mail: kouassi@cro.orstom.ci 0964-5691/99/$ — see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 6 4 - 5 6 9 1 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 8 3 - 0