The Centre for Sustainable Rural
Agriculture and Development (CSRAD), a local non-governmental organisation (NGO),
has organised a one-day sensitisation workshop to educate pupils on how to make
good use of waste plastics to prevent them from polluting water bodies,
especially the Amanzule Wetlands.
The Project Director of CSRAD, Mr
Michael Kermah said the preservation of the Amanzule
Wetlands would bring more economic profits to the people staying along the
wetlands.
He said change was difficult but
always brought benefits to the people when they changed the attitude of
indiscriminate littering to save the environment.
He observed that CSRAD
concentration on schools was to ‘catch them very young’ so that when the
education was well done, they would grow to see a better environment and enjoy
the future.
Mr John Ackah, a representative
of the Chief of Bakanta, Nana Nwozah III, said the Amanzule Wetlands were very
useful to all the communities along the wetlands and must be conserved.
He indicated that the area provided
livelihood, tourism, entertainment and other benefits, adding that the fishes,
monkeys, birds, crocodiles, fauna and flora provided a spectacular scene making
the area very attractive for tourism.
The Agriculture and Environmental
Coordinator of the Ghana Education Service (GES) at the Ellembelle District of
the Western Region, Mr Ebenezer Cudjoe Adebah, observed that the Amanzule
Wetlands provided diversity of ecosystem services of local and national
significance.
He said the wetlands host diversity
of endangered wildlife and had been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by
Bird Life International adding “the wetland is one of the only two coastal IBAs
in Ghana but had no formal conservation status.”
Mr Adebah said the ecosystem
services assessment done by CSRAD to develop working tool and system for
stakeholder decision making and planning of wetlands conservation and
management practices was in the right direction.
The School Health Education
Programme (SHEP) Coordinator of the GES, Madam Elizabeth Joe, told the
gathering that all things made by God had a purpose so man must learn to
preserve what nature had given us.
She said the indiscriminate disposal
of refuse and the littering of the environment with plastic waste had major
consequences on human life yet with all the education man did not see it
necessary to change for a cleaner environment adding “Zoomlion collecting the
refuse does not give the chance for people to litter anyhow.”
Five schools which took part in
using plastic waste to make bags, nets caps and other things were rewarded with
books on Environmental Science, Mathematics and English.
Atuabo Methodist Junior High School
(JHS) emerged first, followed by Ampain District Assembly (D/A), Akoto/Aloakpoke
D/A JHS, Azulenloanu SDA JHS and Ayanzinli/Bakanta D/A JHS.
FROM PETER GBAMBILA, NEW BAKANTA
Credit: Source link
