The Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Environmental Protection Agency organized a 1 day meeting to develop a Green Climate Fund (GCF) proposal on mangroves restoration and coastal community resilience to climate impacts. The Green Climate Funding Proposal will target the restoration of degraded mangrove landscapes and the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities in municipalities across the Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions, which are experiencing devastation from climate-induced impacts such as storm surges, flooding and rising sea levels. In view of this, a national Technical Working Group (TWG) has been established to provide technical oversight and guidance in developing the GCF Funding Proposal as well as conduct a field scoping exercise in potential target coastal districts and selected communities to aid in the development of the GCF Concept Note.
The stakeholders engaged during the meeting were Municipal Chief Executive, Presiding Member, Development Planning Officer, Physical Planning Officer, NADMO Director, Environmental Health Officer, Agric Director, Head of Business Advisory Center and MIS/IT.
The meeting aimed to achieve the following objectives;
1. Undertake field visit to proposed landscape or communities to familiarize themselves with the general state of the ecology, biodiversity, mangroves and socio-economic activities.
2. Find out the proposed interventions for the challenges identified.
3. Ascertain past and ongoing projects and programs related to mangrove, marine and coastal restoration within the landscape.
4. Deepen community ownership of the process.
COASTAL BELT OF NZEMA EAST MUNICIPALITY
The coastal area of Nzema East is very small and is basically in Axim. It starts from Agyan (where Lou moon is) to where the Ankobra empties its boundaries. The Ankobra passes through Nzema East to Prestea and its faraway places. Mangroves are found around the end of the Ankobra. The Municipality has a lot of wetlands. When you go to the wetland areas, there’s a sizeable acreage of about 1,500 acres with mangroves around Adelekazo, Ajomoro Eshiem, along the banks of the Ankobra River and other streams. These mangrove lands are mostly owned by the traditional authorities.
Mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline or brackish water. They grow in an equatorial climate usually along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have special adaptations to take in extra oxygen and to remove salt which allow them to tolerate conditions that would kill most plants. They also serve as natural sea defenses along the coast against storm surges, tidal waves and coastal erosion. Mangrove serves as shelter for some of the sea fishes, crab groups, crayfish, etc. i.e. they act as ecosystem defenders. Some of the socio-economic benefits are coastal protection, timber production, fisheries.
Unfortunately, these ecosystems have continued to decline at a worrying rate due to mangrove loss by human activities.
