By Iddi Yire
Accra, March 22, GNA – Wetlands constitute about 10 per cent of Ghana’s total land area of 23.9 million hectares, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), has disclosed.
The Minister disclosed this on Wednesday on the floor of Parliament in his response to a question by Mr Richard Gyan-Mensah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Gomoa West.
The MP asked the Minister about the status of wetlands in Ghana and what measures were in place to improve the functioning of the ecosystem of wetlands in Ghana.
Dr Afriyie said six of the wetlands had been designated as Ramsar Sites, under the Ramsar Convention and these Ramsar Sites were being managed by the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission.
He said the remaining wetlands were being managed by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) within which they fall.
He said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had an interest in the management of these wetlands and considered them as a potential buffers for destructive excess water from rains and other sources.
“Mr Speaker, the wetlands over the years have gone through ecosystem transitions driven by climatic variability and anthropogenic activities,” the Minister said.
“Climate changes have impacted negatively on the wetland’s ecosystems through perennial droughts and floods.
This he said had altered the species and habitat dynamics of the wetlands.
Dr Afriyie said anthropogenic activities such as habitat fragmentation, ecosystem conversion, over-exploitation of wetlands resources, and encroachment into critical and sensitive habitats had led to the degradation of the wetlands.
He said continuous excessive resource exploitation hurt biodiversity, noting that the quantity and quality of species and their habitat were being compromised, affecting the wetland ecosystem.
He said mangroves were water-loving plants that dominated most of the ecosystem of the coastal wetlands; adding that, however, they were highly exploited for diverse uses and the habitats were threatened by natural and anthropogenic activities.
The Minister said over 120 hectares of mangrove species had been planted by the Wildlife Division to restore the degraded wetlands ecosystem while some blocked creek channels that interconnect the marshy habitats and support aquatic life had been desilted to enhance the natural regeneration of existing mangroves and the development of restored ones.
Dr Afriyie said there were existing regulations in place to ensure the proper management of wetlands in Ghana; these include Wetlands Management (Ramsar Sites) regulations, 1999 (LI 1659), the Wildlife Reserve Regulations 1971 (LI 710) and the Wildlife Conservation Regulations (LI 1971, LI 685).
The Ministry through the EPA he said had drafted the Coastal and marine habitats management regulations to protect, enhance and restore the quality of coastal zones in Ghana and was ratifying the Additional Protocol on Sustainable Mangrove Management (Protocol Calabar) under the Abidjan Convention.
Dr Afriyie said MESTI was working with the Ministry of Finance to secure funding from the World Bank to implement the West Africa Coastal Areas (WACA) Programme, which would support the restoration and conservation of selected wetlands as well as support blue carbon activities.
“Mr Speaker, we must bear in mind, that our ecosystems are a true reflection of our mindsets,” and called on stakeholders to ensure the protection of the wetland ecosystems, which provided services for healthier and wealthier people.
GNA