By Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo, GNA
Aburi, May 25, GNA – Mr Richard Adade, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Consultant for the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Project, has underscored the need for Ghana to adopt effective marine spatial planning to manage competing activities along the country’s coastal and marine areas.
Mr Adade said increasing economic activities on the ocean, including fishing, transportation, oil exploration and tourism, required a coordinated approach to prevent conflicts among users and protect marine ecosystems.
He said this at a stakeholder workshop organised under a project being implemented by the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea to engage members of the Marine Protected Areas Technical Advisory Group and other stakeholders.
The workshop sought to discuss ways of supporting marine conservation initiatives, validating existing datasets collected under the Marine Spatial Planning project, and securing stakeholder support for data collection and sharing.
According to him, the project was also examining Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and Nature-Based Solutions to support sustainable management of marine resources.
“We are using this workshop to validate some of the data we have already collected and also obtain stakeholder buy-in into the datasets and processes that will support the development of a Marine Spatial Plan,” he said.
Mr Adade explained that the workshop also focused on educating stakeholders on data quality standards, licensing requirements, custodianship, and the management of sensitive datasets needed for the planning process.
He noted that access to reliable data remained one of the biggest challenges confronting the development of marine spatial plans in Ghana.
“Marine Spatial Planning depends heavily on quality data. Unfortunately, obtaining data, especially from government institutions, remains difficult, yet such information is critical for the development and implementation of an effective plan,” he said.
He said Ghana’s coastal and marine areas were becoming increasingly congested, making it imperative to properly organise activities taking place within the marine environment, warning that failure to organise these activities, could lead to conflicts among users and contribute to the depletion of important ecosystems.
Mr Adade observed that marine spatial planning had become a standard practice in many parts of the world, particularly within the European Union, where member states are required to develop and implement marine spatial plans.
He said the current project was being piloted in Ghana’s Western Region and would provide valuable lessons for expansion to other parts of the country.
The consultant revealed that although the project team had gathered information from online sources, reports, and scientific publications, significant data gaps remained.
He appealed to public institutions and other stakeholders to make relevant datasets available to support the initiative, stressing that critical information on biodiversity hotspots, fish stocks and artisanal fisheries production remained inadequate, making evidence-based planning difficult.
He noted that collecting such information often required substantial financial resources, which government institutions sometimes found difficult to provide.
He therefore commended civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations for supporting efforts to generate data and reduce the financial burden associated with marine spatial planning.
Mr Adade said the workshop had also helped improve institutional understanding of the importance of marine spatial planning and secured commitments from stakeholders to support the initiative through active participation and data sharing.
“Most of the institutions have pledged their support for the project and are willing to provide the data needed to move the process forward,” he added.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei
Reporter: Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo
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