EPA COLLABORATES WITH TWO ORGANISATIONS TO PROTECT BLACK VOLTA (PAGE 35, OCT 4, 2010)

THE Upper West Regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has since 1998 collaborated with the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) and the Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary to protect a 42–kilometre stretch of the Black Volta in the Wa West District.
The agency has also assisted the Zukpiri community in the Nadowli District to initiate an integrated wildlife sanctuary as a way of promoting eco–tourism.
The Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Asher Nkegbe, announced this at Zukpiri to mark this year’s World Tourism Day in the region.
He said through the efforts of the EPA, the Zukpiri integrated wildlife sanctuary benefited from a Global Environment Facility/Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP) support.
“Support has also been extended to the Dupari, Fian and Konjiahi biodiversity conservation projects,” he added.
Mr Nkegbe said the EPA, through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the district assemblies in the region, were implementing a five-year Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP).
The goal of the project is to strengthen institutions and rural communities to enable them to reverse land degradation and desertification trends in the three northern regions to promote the adoption of sustainable water and land systems that improve food security and reduce poverty.
The implementation of the project cuts across a number of thematic areas, including land use management and socio-economic environment improvement for poverty reduction.
Mr Nkegbe said so far 30 pilot communities were benefiting from the GEMP in the region, and called on non–governmental organisations involved in similar activities to intensify their efforts at finding lasting solutions to the problems of the environment.
The acting Regional Manager of the Ghana Tourist Board, Mr Henry Yeleduor, said the tourism sector had been identified as one of the new pillars in the country’s efforts at reconstructing the economy.
He said currently, the sector accounted for almost four per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and at the current annual growth rate of 12 per cent.
“The sector is also one of the largest employment areas and a fast entry vehicle into the workforce for young people and women in urban and rural communities, directly or through its strong multiplier effect on related services, manufacturing or agriculture,” Mr Yeleduor said.
He was hopeful that with time, Ghana would realise her full potential in the tourism sector.