By Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Shama (WR), Aug. 25, GNA –The Shama District Planning Office of the Western Region says it is mapping and developing sensitive, vulnerability and adaptive road maps to better withstand the impact of climate change in the area.
The district’s vulnerability to floods, windstorms, tidal waves and domestic and bushfires is being worsened by human activities.
Mr Abu Mahama, the District Planning Officer, said the office was focusing more on climate awareness among the citizens.
He was speaking at a stakeholders dialogue on the impact of climate change in the Shama District and the development of action plan for the district.
The programme, under the auspices of the Friends of the Nation, an environmentally minded non-governmental organisation (NGO), falls under the Climate Media Collaborative for Economic Justice and Community Rights Project.
The District Planner said interventions were also to lessen the impact of climate on communities and people in line with SDGs 13 in building adaptive and resilient communities.
The Sustainable Development Goal 13 enjoins countries to take urgent actions to combat climate change and its impact by 2030.
Mr Kojo Opoku, an officer with the Western Regional Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said there were National Adaptation Plans and Strategies aimed at mitigating the various climate change issues around the country.
The EPA officer said culture also had a role to play in protecting the environment and prayed that traditional leaders become empowered to take bold actions in communities to protect the environment.
Mr Obrempong Yaw Ampofo, the Communications Officer for the Friends of the Nation, said the project aims to create the needed awareness among participants on how coastal sand winning, clay mining and environmentally unfriendly quarry activities, coupled with industrialisation of the district was accounting for massive changes in the environment and the need for pragmatic steps to end associated woes from such human actions.
GNA