Wa, July 14, GNA-Stakeholders in land and natural resources management in the Upper West Region have been urged to support, adopt and promote the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small-Scale Mining Project (GLRSSMP) to help reverse degraded landscapes and forest reserves.
Mr Asher Nkegbe, the Head of Technical Coordinating Office, GLRSSMP, who gave the advice, said the project had the potential to fight climate change, improve agriculture productivity and improve livelihoods of vulnerable communities.
He proposed to the Regional Coordinating Council and the Municipal and District Assemblies to mainstream land and forest management technologies and practices into their medium-term development plans to significantly encourage its adoption, to build resilient and sustainable communities.
Mr Nkegbe, who is also the Upper East Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, gave the advice in Wa at the first Local Steering Committee Meeting on the implementation of GLRSSMP.
The six-year government of Ghana and World Bank project is being implemented under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MESTI) and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
It has support from the Global Environment Facility, International Development Association, PROGREEN, and Extractives Global Programmatic Support, among others.
The project is 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 targets 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 parts of the Forest ecological zone and the Pra River Basin.
It is aimed at strengthening Ghana’s natural resource management, restoring degraded forest and landscapes, formalize and regulate small-scale mining to increase benefits to communities in Northern Savannah and Cocoa Forest Zones.
The Head of Technical Coordinating Office, noted that GLRSSMP would 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.
“The GLRSSMP activities are expected to lead to improved and sustainable land management practices, reversal of land degradation, improved agricultural productivity, Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) formalisation and accountability.
It would also improve revenue for small-scale miners and cash crop farmers, job creation as well as improved spatial planning through integration of watershed management and development plans.
This, he said, would complement efforts towards contributing to Ghana’s strive to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly, goals one, 13 and 15.
Dr Hafiz Bin-Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, noted that the five regions of the North continued to experience devastating effects of environmental challenges such as bushfires, deforestation, land degradation and unsustainable farming practices among others leading to desertification and climate change.
“These above-mentioned challenges have reduced the productivity of agricultural lands, forest and water resources and the results are increased poverty and vulnerability to natural disasters such as the floods and drought that is experienced in these regions,” he said.
The Regional Minister, therefore, urged stakeholders, including implementing GLRSSMP and beneficiary communities to ensure sustainable strategies to address the multiple environmental challenges faced in the regions.
Source: Ghana News Agency
