Make Afadzato South a focal point for carbon offsetting – ARDO  

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Goviefe Todzi (V/R)-Ghana, Dec. 30, GNA – The Accelerated Rural Development Organisation (ARDO) has urged the Government to ensure that the Afadzato South District of the Volta Region is made a focal point in the implementation of carbon offsetting programmes to avert climate change effects.
The ARDO, a non-governmental organisation, which seeks to enhance development and forest conservation, noted that the area was well positioned and committed to improving Ghana’s forest cover by planting more trees to absorb carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere.
Carbon offsetting broadly refers to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or an increase in carbon storage (example through land restoration or planting of trees) used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere.
Ghana is recently reported to have received 486.2 million dollars from the World Bank from carbon sale as a result of a pilot project, started in 2010, to store carbon in some selected forest reserves in the country to mitigate climate change.
In July, 2019, Ghana – with one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa – became the third country to sign a landmark agreement with the World Bank that rewards community efforts to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
Mr Pascal Benson Atiglah, the Executive Director of ARDO, explained that the Weto Landscape in the district was strategically located, which made its rich biodiversity to have a remarkable impact on the entire Akwapim-Togo-Atakora range, being part of the Guinea-West Africa Mountain.
The people in the area had already been sensitised on the risks and effects of deforestation on the ecosystem and their livelihoods, hence their involvement in national climate change projects would not be a challenge, he said.
At a meeting with the chiefs and people of Goviefe Todzi in the Afadzato South District on the negative effects of climate change, Mr Atiglah urged the Government and other stakeholders to encourage the residents to protect the environment through their belief systems and cultural practices.
“The people are already poised to stop environmental practices that result in unpredictable rainfall and high solar radiation, which may cause or fuel bush fires, high temperatures, drought, soil degradation, dead water bodies, and loss of flora and fauna,” he said.
The district could boast of various ecosystems with suitable soils and climate for agriculture activities that supported the livelihoods of the people but due to the lack of sustainable management the area was fast losing its ecological importance, he said.
Mr Atiglah cited the Togbe Weto Sacred Grove in the community with its revered deity, as being rich in diverse flora, fauna, avifauna (the birds of a particular region, habitat, or geological period), and invertebrates, which helped in boosting the ecosystem, thereby serving as a barrier against climate change.
“This is basically because the beliefs of the people have acted as binding force for them to protect the shrine by abstaining from practices that would offend the ancestors and the deity.”
“In fact, this is the surest way of involving the local people in environmental conservation, a more effective way to conserve the forests than the strict enforcement of national laws and implementation of policies.”
The range also has antelopes, duiker, headgehog, rats, bushbuck, snails, and warhugs.
However, Mr Atiglah lamented the seeming clash between the traditional authority and other religious groups over the customary practices in environmental conservation.
He said while some believed in sacred groves, deities and the environment as a spiritual and cultural heritage, non-believers in African Traditional Religion considered such groves as “satanic and waste of natural/economic resources.”
He urged all religious bodies to come to a common ground in fostering environmental protection instead of considering, as negative, the customs and traditions in mitigating climate effects.
“Religious bodies should come together to promote community forest conservation and avoid despising the beliefs and practices of the indigenous people that have contributed greatly to environmental conservation”.
Mr Winfried Daniel Donkor, Programmes Director/Coordinator of ADRO, commended the Goviefe Todzi fire volunteers for their efforts in protecting the grove and the environment against fires to sustain the livelihoods of the community, which is predominantly farmer-based.
He appealed to the Afadzato South District Assembly to provide the volunteers with firefighting equipment including extinguishers and wellington boots as well as periodic training to facilitate their activities.