Gambia Department of Parks and Wildlife Management
The Gambia Department of Parks and Wildlife Management (GDPWM) is an agency of the government of the West African state of Gambia .
She is responsible for the wildlife in the country. Its duties include the management, administration and development of the protected areas , national parks and national reserves of the country. It controls compliance with the Wildlife Act 1977 and the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species , which prohibits the trade in protected wild animal and plant species and strictly regulates import and export.
The GDPWM is divided into five sections:
- Directorate ( Directorate )
- Conservation, education and extension ( Conservation, Education and Extension Unit )
- Nature reserves ( Parks and Protected Area Management Unit )
- Research and assessment of crop damage ( Research, Crop damage Assessment and Control Unit )
- Monitoring ( Surveillance Unit )
history
With the Abuko Nature Reserve , the government of Gambia established the first nature reserve in 1968. This was followed by the establishment of the Wildlife Conservation Unit (WCU), which was subordinate to the Department of Forestry . In 1977, in the course of growing environmental awareness, the WCU was reformed and transformed into an agency, the Wildlife Conservation Department (WCD) . This authority was renamed in 1994 and expanded to include the management of nature reserves.