Portions of Weto mountain in Volta Region free from fires
The perennial bush fires that for decades occurred along the Weto mountain range in the Volta Region and destroyed organisms and the physical environment have not been experienced for the past two years at Bame, Avenui and Kwanta, the three areas mostly affected by wildfires.
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The situation is attributable to the implementation of an ecosystem conservation and restoration project that discouraged people in the three communities from burning bush for hunting and farming purposes, as well as from carrying out illegal chainsaw operations.
As a result, the soil has regained its fertility; the animals in the wild that fled Bame, Avenui and Kwanta have returned and water bodies that dried up have returned to life.
The restoration project, known as the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative (COMDEKS), started in 2011 with funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environmental Facility and the Government of Japan.
Its objective was to conserve interaction between organisms and their environment as a means of ensuring sustainable production of crops, livestock, forest and non-timber products. In addition, the project aimed at making available to the people alternative sources of livelihood made possible through environmental conservation.
The Coordinator of COMDEKS, Mr Divine Odonkor, made this known during an assessment visit to the areas by a UNDP team led by its Communications Analyst, Mr Bossman Owusu.
He said currently, owing to the restoration project, many of the inhabitants at Bame, Avenui and Kwanta, with a population of about 4,000, were engaged in piggery, rabbitry and bee-keeping as alternative sources of livelihood.
The project, which was piloted in Bame, Avenui and Kwanta, is to be extended to other communities along the 9.6-kilometre stretch of the Weto range from Anyirawase to Bame.
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The Weto mountain range extends from Akwapim in the Eastern Region in Ghana to Atakora in Benin.
Assessment visit
According to Mr Odonkor, a baseline study that was conducted indicated that the section of the Weto Mountain in the Ho West District had its vegetation depleted due to bush burning and illegal chainsaw operations.
A part of the range which was always on fire was called the ‘fire mountain’.
By good fortune, Mr Odonkor said, following the cessation bush burning by the people of Bame, Avenui and Kwanta, that section of the range had been spared of fire.
He stated that animals such as antelopes and monkeys were back and water bodies that had dried up had also been revitalised.
Assembly member
The assembly member for the Avenui Electoral Area, Mr Divine Yao Nkrumah, said with the ecosystem having been restored, the people had begun cultivating rice and spices such as pepper and ginger.
He added that two years ago, with the backing of the district assembly, the traditional authorities came up with bye-laws to conserve the environment and those found burning the bush or engaging in illegal sawing of trees were punished. Since then, he said, no one had been caught engaging in such acts.
Livelihood support
The COMDEKS project has empowered more than 200 smallholder farmers in sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation through education.
Some of the beneficiaries of the project indicated that it had transformed their lives for the better. Mrs Paulina Kropah told the Daily Graphic that her bee-keeping business had more than quadrupled her income and she was now able to pay her children's school fees and had even started building a house.
He also commended the traditional authorities for enforcing the ban on bush burning and illegal chainsaw operation in the area.