An updated plan to conserve and regenerate species and habitats that have earned the Keta Lagoon Complex Ramsar Site (KLCRS), its different statuses and develop the capability of stakeholders to sustainably manage and derive livelihood from these resources is expected to be developed by the end of the year.
Mrs Saadia Bobtoya Owusu-Amofah, Project Coordinator-IUCN Ghana Project Office said that was because the old management plan of the site which was developed in 1999 had outlived its purpose due to emerging anthropogenic challenges and issues related to climatic changes.
She said this at the validation workshop of the draft management plan of the KLCRS organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) under its four-year project (2019- 2022) titled Management of Mangroves Forest from Senegal to Benin funded by the European Union in collaboration with the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission.
Mrs Owusu-Amofah said the review was needed to scale up the management measures of the Ramsar Site to meet current trends of issues affecting habitat and species dynamics of the site.
She said it was also to ensure effective management of the site, enhance its contribution to climate resilience of mangroves and improve community livelihoods.
Mrs Owusu-Amofah said the review of the management plan had seen processes including literature review, field consultations and data collection with which the consultant developed the draft management plan.
She said the workshop was relevant for stakeholders to make inputs for an updated KLCRS management plan, adding “so, we are happy that we’ve come to a point where a draft has been developed and we think that is important that stakeholders sit around the table.
Have a look at the key issues that have come out of the process and make the inputs into the draft so that we can finalise it.”
The Project Coordinator-IUCN Ghana Project Office said it was important for stakeholders to own the process to understand their roles and play them effectively.
Dickson Agyemang, Wetlands Operations Manager, Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, reiterated that the review was necessary for guidelines to be in line with new trends.
“Looking at the old objective of the management plan, it’s not useful now. So we have to formulate a new objective to meet the current needs of the people in that environment,” he added.
Mr Agyemang said that the workshop which brought together stakeholders including traditional leaders, a representative from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) among others to enable them play their roles in the implementation process.
Gregoire Touron-Gardic, Consultant, KLCRS management plan review, in a presentation on the draft management plan said the new plan was aimed at conserving natural habitats and biodiversity, ensure that effective administrative management was in place, integration of local populations into site management and Contribute to the improvement in livelihoods of the local population.
BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR