Bolgatanga, April 07, GNA – The successful roll out of the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small-Scale Mining Project (GLRSSMP), will significantly contribute to reversing degraded landscapes and forest reserves and help mitigate climate change impact.
Mr Isaac Charles Acquah Jnr., Project Coordinator in charge of Landscape Restoration, GLRSSMP, said this in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, at a training workshop on financial management and reporting procedures, organised for financial officers in the Northern part of Ghana who would be involved in the implementation process.
He said an integrated and holistic approach, coupled with efforts being implemented to ensure landscape and forest management, would strengthen institutional and regulatory frameworks to promote sustainable and responsible agriculture production, small-scale mining, and forest and water management.
“That would contribute to restoring the livelihoods of the vulnerable especially in the rural communities and contribute to Ghana’s effort at attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly, goals one, 13 and 15,” he added.
The six-year government of Ghana and World Bank project was being implemented under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MESTI) and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
It had support from the Global Environment Facility, International Development Association, PROGREEN, Extractives Global Programmatic Support among others.
The project was building on lessons, experiences and successes from implementing the Ghana Environment Management Project and the Sustainable Land and Water Management Project (SLWMP).
The project geographically targeted the Northern Savannah Zone including the Guinea Savannah ecological zone, the Sudan Savannah ecological zone, and the upper portions of the Transitional ecological zone, and Cocoa Forest Landscape including including parts of the Forest ecological zone and the Pra River Basin.
It was aimed to strengthen Ghana’s natural resource management, restore degraded forest and landscapes, formalise and regulate small-scale mining to increase benefits to communities in Northern Savannah and Cocoa Forest Zones.
Mr Acquah Jnr indicated the project among other things would contribute to protecting and ensuring access to natural resources and build the resilience of the poor and vulnerable population while reducing their vulnerability to climate-related extreme events.
It would enable them to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts and protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
“The GLRSSMP will provide a unique opportunity for the project to collaborate with other ongoing land restoration and mining projects in the country to tackle the challenges created by the illegal small scale miners within the landscape such as pollution of water bodies and their immediate environs, destruction of farmlands and forest reserves, which have had negative consequences on food security, human health, environmental quality improvements and other aspects of national development,” he said.
Mr Asher Nkegbe, the Head of Technical Coordination Office, GLRSSMP, stated that potentials of the project was to strategically reduce poverty and vulnerability to climate change impact and provide alternative livelihoods to beneficiaries.
“GLRSSMP will coordinate with ComCashew, to expand cashew cultivation to cover over 3,000 hectares and value chain activities in the northern savannah ecological zone of Ghana focusing on the Western Wildlife Corridor to improve incomes and livelihoods of community members in the corridor,” he added.
GNA