Ghacem Quarry Life Awards participants start work

The fourth edition of Ghacem’s Quarry Life Awards (QLA) Campaign, has begun with this year’s finalists pledging to emulate the examples of Ghana’s representatives for the past three editions.

The project which runs from January to September 2018, entails work including site visits, engagement with key stakeholders such as communities around quarry sites where Ghacem operates, report writing and presentation.

A novelty in the fourth edition is the separation in assessment of scientific and community project ideas with six finalists instead of five segmented into research and community streams with prize money of 5000 euros and 2500 euros for the first and second positions respectively in the different categories.

Significance

The QLA National Coordinator, Kwabena Labi Addo, underscored the importance of the engagement with participants and said it will also afford the QLA Jury Members and Executive the opportunity to understand the methodology of the various projects. “I’m optimistic that the zeal exhibited by each participant will provide an international winner for the fourth edition of the QLA campaign,” he said.

A jury member who is also the Director, Centre for Climate Change and Sustainable Studies, University of Ghana, Prof. Erasmus Henaku Owusu, in his assessment, observed that the various projects were more competitive compared to the previous editions “which is due to the quality of proposals submitted and I believe the ones shortlisted have the potential of winning international award if they are undertaken properly.”

He urged the participants to be mindful of the competitive nature of this year’s programme and work assiduously to come out with a credible project which can become an additional value for them and not just the awards.

For his part, Mr Yaw Kwakye, of the Climate Change Unit of the Forestry Commission, who is also a jury member, noted that the segmentation of this year’s project into research and community streams was an important innovation as it would provide detailed analyses of the two areas.

“The Community stream for instance needs utmost attention because there is no meaning to a good research if it would not impact society”, he said.

Appreciation

A participant, Ms Emily Esenam Bansah, who spoke on behalf of the finalists, said their first encounter with the jury had been educative since the jury had been able to analyse the various projects to their understanding to enable them to progress with the projects. “We are very grateful and hope to be serious and professional with the research to make Ghana proud,” she stated.

Project titles

The finalists have the following as the title of the projects: Evans Ewald Nkrumah (impact of mining on foraging bats), Edmond Schandorf (Soil moisture retention and native pollinators preservation: The case of Mimosa Pudica), Daniel Adusu (Promote the use of biochar for mine soil amendment and biodiversity enhancement), Emily Esenam Bansah (The Statistical Determination of the Best Biological Geotextile for Biodiversity Promotion in Quarries), Kwame Konadu Yeboah (Socio-economic impact assessment of Talbotiellagentii spp. in five communities) and Abraham Addo-Ansah Allotey (Promoting community participation for sustainable eco-restoration)

Quarry Life Award (QLA)

The QLA Campaign, organised by the HeidelbergCement (HC) and its subsidiaries across the globe, including Ghacem Limited of Ghana, seeks to source ideas towards the effective regeneration and management of biodiversity in its mining sites. The campaign rewards the most effective ideas on possible ways to reclaim lands in areas where the HC Group operates globally.