Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience |  University of Cape Coast

The Coastal Management Journal invites submissions for its special issue titled “The Variability of Coastal Management and Biophysical Ecosystems in West and Central Africa”. This issue seeks high-quality scholarly contributions that advance understanding, present innovative methodologies, and offer critical insights on emerging themes within this field. Researchers, practitioners, and interdisciplinary scholars are encouraged to submit original manuscripts that contribute meaningfully to ongoing academic and policy discussions.

This special issue will address the urgent challenges and opportunities of coastal management and ecosystem sustainability in West and Central Africa. Coastal biophysical ecosystems in the region, particularly aquatic systems, are experiencing rapid degradation due to climate-driven erosion, pollution, and biodiversity loss. At the same time, responses remain fragmented, short-term, and often externally funded, raising concerns about sustainability and local ownership.

The issue will focus on three interconnected themes:

1. Drivers and impacts of coastal ecosystem change that will be generated from empirical studies on erosion, habitat loss, and changing ecosystem services.
2. Innovative management and governance strategies which should examine locally grounded, interdisciplinary approaches that integrate science, community, and policy perspectives.
3. Sustainable financing and knowledge systems where funding models, capacity development, and the revitalization of basic science and local knowledge in long-term coastal management are explored.

By bringing together research, policy, and practice, this special issue seeks to fill critical knowledge gaps and highlight transformative solutions tailored to the specific contexts of West and Central Africa. We welcome contributions that provide comparative insights, showcase community-led practices, or propose new theoretical frameworks. Collectively, these papers will advance regional and global debates on coastal sustainability and resilience.

The topics to be included in this special issue also include,

• Assessing climate and anthropic influence on socio-ecosystems
• Innovative tools for scientists and decision makers
• Interdisciplinary indicators of vulnerability and resilience
• Building knowledge and expert decisions
• Integrating data in management

1. Important dates
   1. Call for Abstracts distributed –December 1, 2025
   2. Deadline for abstracts – February 1, 2026
   3. Review of abstracts – February 1- March 1, 2026
   4. Notification of authors –March 10, 2026
   5. Deadline for manuscripts – May 10, 2026
2. Review Process

1. Co-editors invite and identify two external reviewers per article: May 15-July 15, 2026

*Note: if there is significant disagreement between external reviewers, decisions will be made by internal reviewers or co-editors.

2. Review of articles – May 15-September 15, 2026
3. Special issue guest editors document their assessment of the papers as: accept, reject, conditional accept or revise and resubmit.
4. Send all reviews and guest editor assessments as one batch to the CMJ lead associate editor and CMJ assistant to ensure that all parties come to agreement that reviews are adequate- September 15 – December 15, 2026.
5. After CMJ lead associate editor and special issue guest editors come to agreement on each paper’s status and need for revisions, send papers, reviews and assessment cover letterare sent to authors – by December 15^TH, 2026
6. Revision/rewrite process: December 15, 2026 – January 15, 2027
7. Final review of revised articles and confirmation of acceptance: February 15-March 15, 2027

3. Batch submission in journal: March 31, 2027
4. Authors must follow the guidelines in this link https://docs.google.com/document/d/12t-L9hU6ES2KyvymTk9rdmQ1CYLJd5KZ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109189340782410333544&rtpof=true&sd=true
5. Submissions should be sent to committee@wacavar.net
6. Guest editors