Community members and farmers urged to protect wildlife


A large percentage of Ghana’s wildlife are losing their homes as their habitats are taken over by agricultural, economic social and other human activities with the result that their population is fast dwindling. 

A major contributory factor is the notion among farmers that wildlife constitutes a pest which compete directly with their agricultural activities. 

They therefore do not care if wildlife is destroyed by other people and may even be accomplices. 

The Upper East Regional Director of the wildlife Division of the forestry commission, John Naada Majam, made the disclosure at the inauguration of Saniya Kassena Gavara Kara Community Resource Management Area, CREMA, at Nakong in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region. 

The benefits associated with natural resources are gradually eroding due to over exploitation and the absence of mechanisms for community supported management. 

He added that lack of  innovative natural resource governance and landscape-level planning tool that authorizes communities to manage their natural resources for economic and livelihood benefits has also  been identified as the major cause of high level of deforestation and land degradation. 

A report in 2012 showed Ghana’s forest has drastically reduced from 8.2 million hectares to 1.7.  

This has resulted in a loss of soil fertility, which leads to high migration of youth to the southern part of the country in search of non-existing jobs. 

The effects of climate change have a significant impact on food production and related natural resource sectors, giving rise to food insecurity. 

The Upper East Regional Director of the wildlife Division of the forestry commission, John Naada Majam, said the natural resource base is not managed properly, although Ghana is an agrarian economy with as high as 60 percent of the working population employed in the agriculture sector.


The Operations Manager and Head of the Collaborative Resource Management Unit of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, Dr Andrew Kyei Agyare, urged the Wildlife Division to continue to provide the appropriate support to the CREMAs, to enable them function effectively.

 He tasked the committee members to work hard and also draw support from all sections of their communities, to enable them realize the goals and objectives set in their constitution. 

Dr Agyare said the CREMA is not a ploy by Government to annex more lands, but a strategy to collaborate with all stakeholders for the benefit of the country. 

He called on district assemblies to work with the CREMAs to enact and pass bye laws, to strengthen the enforcement of the rules and regulations enshrined in their respective constitutions effectively. 

He said the mechanism creates an incentive for farmers by allowing them to benefit from the use of natural resources which in turn encourages them to manage and use these resources sustainably. Communities and land owners are given the right to access and control their natural resources. 

This, he noted, creates a win-win situation where natural resources are given value and communities to manage their resources sustainably, thus ensuring their conservation. 

The Navrongo Magistrate Court Judge, Her Worship Comfort Apalayine, who read the keynote address, CREMA among other interventions seek to improve livelihoods and human wellbeing, ensures that habitats are secured and endangered species are protected and also strengthens accountability and democratization at the community level. 

She said CREMA also promotes the diversification of income generation which strengthens local economies. 

She called on all stakeholders concern to help address issues confronting the wildlife division of the forestry commission. 

The CREMAs established by the communities under the Sustainable Land and Water Management Program, is funded by the World Bank, to help protect and conserve biodiversity and natural resources. 

The communities include, Wuru, Kwapun Kunchogu, Pido, Banu and Bassisan from the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region. Communities in the Upper East include Nakong, Katiu and Kayoro, all drawn from the Kassena -Nankana West District. 


GBC