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Transcript/ScriptGHANA MANGROVE REFORESTATION (TV)
HEADLINE: Ghanaian Coastal Communities to Restore Lost Mangroves
TEASER: Communities plan to plant 200,000 of the salt-tolerant shrubs and trees, which capture carbon and help prevent erosion and flooding
PUBLISHED AT: 06/16/2022, 7:37p
BYLINE: Senanu Tord
DATELINE: Sawoma, Ghana
VIDEOGRAPHER: Senanu Tord
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE(S): VOA Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO X
TRT: 2:42
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) [[The United Nations says Ghana has one of the highest losses of rainforest in the world, with its forests today covering only one-fifth of what they did a century ago. As part of the government's Green Ghana project, coastal communities aim to plant 200,000 mangrove trees and shrubs to help with carbon capture, erosion and flooding. Senanu Tord reports from Sawoma, Ghana.]]
((NARRATOR))
At the Ankobra River estuary in southwest Ghana, fishing communities rely largely on mangroves for firewood, their main source of fuel for processing fish. But experts say the incessant felling of mangroves has led to a decline in mangrove forests and fish habitat.
((Isaac Morkeh Codjoe, Asanta Kotokro Assemblyman (English, 16 secs))
“We used to cut the mangroves where that place becomes like a park. So, the sun will shine on it and that place will be very hard, and I think the fish cannot get to that point.”
((NARRATOR))
Environmentalists say mangroves, salt-tolerant trees and shrubs that live in coastal areas, are important for the environment, capturing about four times more carbon than other trees and helping to protect the land against erosion and flooding.
Globally, they make up less than 1 percent of all tropical forests and they are threatened by over-exploitation and infrastructure development, according to a report by the World Atlas of Mangroves.
In Ghana, the nonprofit group Hen Mpoano says multiple changes in the last decade are making mangroves even more vulnerable.
((Daniel Nortey, Hen Mpoano (English, 23 secs))
“One is when Ghana discovered oil and gas and through its development. There are a lot of infrastructure development going on along this area, that is one. There is also what we call the Galamsey, the illegal mining activities in the area, and this is polluting a lot of the river bodies.”
((NARRATOR))
To help, the community is raising mangrove seedlings and replanting them in degraded areas. They aim to plant 200,000 trees this year and get the area classified as a conservation reserve.
((Daniel Nortey, Hen Mpoano (English, 24 secs))
“The main goal of the project or the program is to actually formalize the management of the Greater Amanzule area by putting it under a biosphere reserve. // We have realized that there are a lot of endangered species within this area, and also this area serves as a main source of livelihood for the communities.”
((NARRATOR))
To achieve this, the Ghana forestry commission and the non-profit group have developed a resource management approach called CREMA. The plan calls for community training on sustainability and providing it with some power to police their own resources.
((Enoch Amasa Ashie, Forestry Commission Regional Manager (English, 26 sec ))
“The state agencies cannot be everywhere, every time. But the communities are there. They stay with the resource, they live with the resource, they benefit from the resource.”
((NARRATOR))
The Greater Amanzule Wetlands is the only pristine wetland on the western coast of Ghana, according to a USAID report. Communities in those areas hope to develop
sustainable uses of the wetland and save it from depletion.
((Senanu Tord, for VOA news, Sawoma, Ghana))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Sawoma, Ghana
Embargo DateJune 16, 2022 19:41 EDT
Byline
(Senanu Tord, for VOA news, Sawoma, Ghana))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
