Accra, July 17, GNA – The European Union Funded Landscapes and Environmental Agility across the Nation (LEAN) Project has aided the revival of some plant species that have not been seen for a long time.
The Project, through a farmer managed natural regeneration model, protected some areas for two years in some communities in the Upper East region.
In the Savannah Zone, where World Vision Ghana is implementing the LEAN project, the Landscape Management Boards have gradually become conscious of their role and accepted that the issue of environment protection is not in the hands of government but they as community
members have a critical role to play.
Mr Joseph Edwin Yelkabong, LEAN Project Manager for World Vision Ghana, during the 4th Consortium Capacity Building Workshop and Reflection Meeting said, “Women who are into pottery and moulding of local pots need some special kind of grass which serves as oven, have testified that they are beginning to harvest grass from their neighborhoods instead of travelling long distances into the valley areas to get these grasses to better prepare their pots for sale.”
He said a lot of farmers, who have included tree planting on their farms and adopted Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration on their farms, were now giving testimonies that their farms look more promising than before.
“The change of mindset to go directly into deliberate tree planting alone is one impact that we think that we are making so far, and we hope that before the close of the Project, we will have made some strides in that regard,” he added.
Mr Yelkabong said World Vision was currently providing education to the community and the feedback had been massive.
“Community members have shown interest in picking seedlings from their nurseries that are not even of fruit value,” he said.
The Project Manager said they were rolling out an alternative livelihood component to provide community members with small ruminants like sheep and goat for rearing.
He said the issue of water in the Savannah landscape was one key challenge, especially in West Gonja, where there was perennial water shortage.
The Project Manager said another challenge in the restoration effort of the LEAN Project in the Savannah was bush fires, which occurred on an annual basis.
“The organization is, therefore, providing all the necessary support and consciously engaging communities by sensitizing them and increasing the awareness on the effects of bush fires,” he said.
He said they were making the farmers to understand that once the bush fires continued, it would not ensure the fluidity that they expect to see in the growth of the seedlings.
GNA