Imagine a world without any animal species – no birds in the air, no fishes in the sea, no mammals on land, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, or crustaceans – in fact, imagine a world without wildlife. Life indeed would be tough.
It is an open secret that humans and wildlife depend on each other. There are a lot of benefits derived from wildlife; from food supply to medicinal purposes, pest control, and other socio-economic benefits, and that’s why countries like Ghana and others cannot risk losing its wildlife.
In line with protecting wildlife, Ghana has an established Forestry Commission which is responsible for the regulation of utilisation of forest and wildlife resources, the conservation and management of those resources and the coordination of policies related to them.
As Ghana joins the world to mark World Wildlife day on March 3, 2023, the Independent Ghana, will take a dive into what the Wildlife Division of the Ghana Forestry Commission is all about and what its functions are.
What’s Ghana’s Forestry Commission?
The Forestry Commission (FC), a public service institution, was set up subject to the provisions of the 1992 Constitution, Chapter 21, Article 269, sub-section 1. It has two divisions; the Forest Services Division and the Wildlife Division.
What is the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission?
The Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission is the Government Agency mandated to protect and manage Ghana’s wildlife resources.
It is one of the three divisions of the reconstituted Forestry Commission.
The Wildlife Division (Forestry Commission), currently managed by Daniel Amankwa, started as an arm of the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture superintending over wildlife issues in Ghana. In 1965, it became a full-fledged line agency of the Ministry of Forestry known as the Department of Game and Wildlife, which later changed to Wildlife Department after the adoption of the Forestry and Wildlife Policy of 1994.
The Division currently, is in charge of 7 National Parks, 6 Resource Reserves, 2 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 1 strict nature reserve, 5 coastal Ramsar sites and 2 National zoos.
To ensure that wildlife is protected the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission performs the following functions:
- Promote management and development of wildlife outside wildlife-Protected Areas.
- Develop Eco- tourism potentials of the PAs.
- Promote the development of wildlife – based enterprises.
- Develop linkages with other agencies and NGOs whose activities impact on wildlife.
- Assist local communities to develop and manage their own reserves e.g. Boabeng Fiema and Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuaries.
- Foster closer collaboration with communities closer to PAs through the promotion of community resource management areas (CREMA).
- Promote public awareness and education on wildlife management issues.
The Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission has ensured the ban of trade on grey parrots and provided models for community conservation actions. In addition, the Division manages 5 coastal Ramsar Sites, 2 Zoos in Accra and Kumasi, working assiduously to ensure that these valuable resources are in good shape.
Additionally, Ghana is currently working on a sustainable ecotourism development plan as part of solutions to combat climate change and its ramifications on the environment, according to Dr Richard Gyimah, the Director, Stakeholder and Ecotourism at the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission.
The ecotourism agenda would be an avenue to generate income and contribute significantly to the economy. Ghana has significantly benefited from its ecotourism sector, it contributed about $1.2 billion, representing some 5.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020.
In 2021, the travel and tourism sector contributed around $3.1 billion to the country’s GDP.
The Division has also rescued and assisted in the rescue of many animals, including a fully grown male black bellied pangolin, two days after the celebration of World Pangolin Day.