Accra: South Korea is supporting Ghana with a $4.5-million project to protect the country's Forts and Castles World Heritage Property from climate change. The five-year Korea-Ghana Heritage Project on Climate Change Impact on Forts and Castles of Ghana World Heritage Property will run from 2026 to 2030.
According to Ghana News Agency, Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, announced that the project would address climate-related threats to the coastal heritage sites, including erosion, flooding, salt-induced deterioration, structural instability, and extreme weather. She made this statement at the Government Accountability Series in Accra.
The project will initially focus on six heritage sites in the Greater Accra Region: Ussher Fort and James Fort at Jamestown, Christiansborg Castle at Osu, Fort Augustaborg at Teshie, Fort Vernon at Prampram, and Fort Fredensborg at Old Ningo. Madam Gomashie stated that the project aims to establish a scientific climate-risk assessment and monitoring system for the selected sites and support national and site-level climate response policies.
The initiative will also strengthen institutional and technical capacity for climate-responsive heritage management while developing integrated data systems and climate-risk mapping for the sites. The Minister emphasized that the project would be implemented through a multi-stakeholder framework involving government institutions, technical agencies, local communities, academia, and international partners.
Aligned with the UNESCO World Heritage Climate Action Policy 2023 and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 11 and 13, the project follows recommendations of the World Heritage Committee. Community participation will be promoted to involve local communities as active partners in protecting and preserving the heritage sites.
As part of the capacity-building component, six experts from various stakeholder organizations have undergone two weeks of intensive training in climate change response policy for forts and castles in South Korea. Additionally, six site managers are expected to undertake two months of site management training in South Korea between October and November 2026.
The Minister highlighted that additional stakeholders would receive training and skills development during the five-year project to enhance Ghana's expertise in climate-responsive heritage management. The project is anticipated to improve Ghana's participation in regional and international discussions on climate change and heritage conservation.
The official launch of the project is scheduled for August 26, 2026, at the forecourt of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, with participation expected from Ghana's and South Korea's UNESCO counterparts.