AMANSURI CONSERVATION & INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

BACKGROUND
The Amansuri Conservation and Integrated Development (ACID) Project concerns the conservation and management of the pristine Amansuri wetland and its fresh water lagoon. The wetland has the largest stand of intact swamp forest in Ghana and home to varieties of animals like monkeys, crocodiles, marine turtles and birds. It has been selected as one of the Important Bird Areas in Ghana based on BirdLife International criteria.

Unless intervention is made this wetland is likely to suffer the fate of other numerous wetlands along the coast of Ghana, which have become completely degraded due to deforestation, farming and pollution among others.

The aim of the Project is to conserve the ecological integrity and aesthetics of the Amansuri wetland.

It was identified by the Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS) in 1997 following various studies by staff of GWS and Zoology Department, University of Ghana, Legon dating back to 1981.

It is being implemented through a collaborative partnership between the GWS and the chiefs and people of the Western Nzema Traditional Area with funding from the Netherlands Government over a period of five years.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of the project is to promote tourism through enhancing the scenic beauty and natural attraction, historically interesting places and the village on stilts, Nzulezu.

Income generating activities based on a well functioning wetland ecosystem and cultural richness will also be developed to contribute to the socio-economic development of the area paying particular attention to women who are the main users of biodiversity.
Amansuri Lake, a major mode of Transport

 

KEY ACTIVITIES

  • Collect baseline data on biodiversity and socio-economy,
  • Create public awareness,
  • Establish the Amansuri lagoon and surrounding swamp forest as a Community Nature Reserve,
  • Clear aquatic weed, Vossia cuspidate, in areas of open water and in feeder canals,
  • Re-establish old access waterway between Beyin and Amansuri lagoon,
  • Construct a safer and more durable and broader walkway in Nzulezu,
  • Prepare and implement Amansuri Wetland Management strategy,
  • Develop small-scale enterprises,
  • Develop marketing and communication strategy,
  • Training and capacity building.
Nzulezu, a village on stilts


LOCATION
The project area is within the Western Nzema Traditional Area (between Lat. 04 55’-05 13’N and Long 02 15’-02 45W), located in the Jomoro District, one of the 11 districts in the Western Region. The area is about 360 km west of Accra, the nation’s capital.