I was watching a news coverage on CitiTV last week on residential properties encroaching on the Sakumono Lagoon wetlands and honestly it was horrifying to say the least. The Sakumono Lagoon is one of the Ramsar sites designated to be of international importance for migratory animals.
How are responsible authorities issuing building permits in lands that are supposed to be protected?? Are we serious as a country at all?? Do we understand the importance of wetlands?
Here's a brief definition of what a wetland is and why our energies must go into protecting them at all costs;
An encyclopedic entry defines a Wetland as an area of land that is either covered by water or saturated with water.
Wetlands exist in many kinds of climates, on every continent except Antarctica. They vary in size from isolated prairie potholes to huge salt marshes. They are found along coasts and inland. Some wetlands are flooded woodlands, full of trees. Others are more like flat, watery grasslands. Still others are choked by thick, spongy mosses. ( Source : National Geographic)
The importance of wetlands
Dead plants and leaves break down in these wetlands waters to provide food for smaller aquatic insects, small fishes and shellfish which are then fed on by larger predatory fishes, mammals, birds and reptiles.
Wetlands are crucial in moderating global climate conditions as they store carbon instead of releasing it to the atmosphere. Marshes & swamps are excellent examples of this.
We source quite a number of fishes from our wetlands. Adwen ( mudfish), crabs and some varieties of shellfish are all derived from wetland soils.
Wetlands acts like a natural sponge that traps and slowly release floodwaters into streams and other water bodies.
It's a home for varying migratory birds which also feed on the small fishes and aquatic insects in the wetland waters and soil. These birds also breed and nest in the low shrubs of the wetlands.
Why would anyone want to build on such a land?? It's highly suitable for building properties as well. The land is deeply saturated with water which means you are basically exposing you and your household to flooding during the rainy season. By destroying our wetlands we are basically killing off migratory birds which can then become extinct in no time.
Although Ghana is a signatory under the Ramsar Convention, it seems not enough enforcement has been done to protect our wetlands. Have you seen any awareness on wetland protection on TV before? I haven't.
We must not remain silent about the encroaching of buildings and pollution of the Sakumono wetlands. Fishermen reliant on fishes from these wetlands have their source of income depleted due to pollution from human occupation of these lands. It's obvious that climate change is affecting us in Ghana as well and the continuous abuse & degradation of our land use will be a hefty price to pay in the future. Our ecological system is at risk!
