THE HEART OF THE PROJECT
The Save the Seashore Birds
Project – Ghana (SSBP-G) was established
with the signing of an agreement between the Ghana
Government., The Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds (RSPB) and the International Council
for Preservation (ICBP) in June1985.
The activities of the SSBP-G
centered around research, training, conservation
education and public awareness programmes, have
achieved results far beyond the initial aim of
saving a single species and has contributed immensely
to general wildlife conservation awareness within
Ghana.
COASTAL BIRD SURVEYS
Preliminary surveys of
the entire coast by staff from the Ghana Game
and Wildlife Department, supported by British
ornithologists, in November 1986 and January 1986
identified 13 key sites for shorebirds. Six of
these – Keta Lagoon, Songaw Lagoon complex,
Sakumo Lagoon, Densu Delta and Panbros Salt Pans,
Muni Lagoon and Esiama Beach are known to hold
significant populations of seashore birds and
qualify under the Ramsar Convention as wetlands
of international importance.
In light of this, the Ghana
Government initiated moves for some of these sites
to be designated as protected areas. Regular monitoring
of bird populations in the key sites has greatly
increased our knowledge of the rich bird life
and the beautiful wetlands along the Ghana coast.
GHANA’S SOCIAL
BIRDS – TERMS
Eleven species of tern
can be found along Ghana’s coast. Four species
– common tern, black tern, royal tern and
sandwich tern – make up 80 per cent of what
can be as many as 50,000 terns. The rare roseate
tern makes up only two per cent of this population.
In addition, 42 species of wading birds (34 are
migratory and 11 occur in internationally important
numbers) make the coast of Ghana a haven for bird
life.
TRAINING
Training was a vital area
of SSBP-G’s work and staff have received
training both inside and outside Ghana. Programmes
in bird identification, education and wildlife
management have developed skills that would not
otherwise be available in Ghana. Other West African
countries to benefit from the SSBP-G’s training
programme are Nigeria, Togo, Sierra Leone, Liberia
and The Gambia.
CONSERVATION EDUCATION AND
PUBLIC AWARENESS
WILDLIFE CLUBS
The World Conservation
Strategy states that until people understand why
they should safeguard ecosystems and species they
will not do so. It is to address this lack of
understanding that the SSBP-G introduced Wildlife
Clubs in Ghana and organized a nationwide launch
in March 1987. Since then conservation activities
and wildlife clubs have become very popular in
schools. Currently there are over 60. In 1988,
the Wildlife Clubs produced their fist members’
magazine called Nko (the parrots)
COMMUNITY PROGRAMME
Alongside the SSBP-G’s
work in schools, the Society’s Education
Unit organized a highly successful Community Programme.
This took the conservation message to the people
in the coastal towns and villages where talks,
films and slide shows with a wildlife theme were
attended by between 1,000 and 4, 000 people annually.
The SSBP-G also encouraged formation of community
wildlife clubs, and actively promotes them and
supports the Ghana Wildlife Society. The clubs
are open to everyone interested in wildlife and
anxious to promote the wise use of Ghana’s
natural resources for the benefit of present and
future generations.
PUBLICITY MATERIAL
Publicity materials such
as T-shits, badges, stickers, pens and pencils
bearing conservation messages were also produced
by SSBP-G. These, together with the launch of
the film Save the Seashore Birds in 1988 and its
subsequent showing on television, radio and TV
interviews by SSBP-G staff and newspaper articles,
all helped to increase the awareness of Ghana’s
wildlife heritage.
PARTNERS IN CONSERVATION
All this work, however,
would not have been possible without the generous
support of the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds, (UK) which provided all the funds, vehicles,
binoculars, telescopes, projectors and public
address systems required for the project’s
work.
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