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Framework WRSDF, a spatial plan for the Region, as well as a platform for the integration of social, economic, and environmental policies and plans for the Region. A
National Technical Committee was set up under the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology MEST and a Regional Oversight Committee was inaugurated for the
project under the chairmanship of the Deputy Regional Minister.
In October of 2011, CRC was formally invited to assist with the Regional Oversight Committee and the Hen Mpoano program has subsequently made important
contributions relative to “areas of special concern” in the coastal district that merit particular management and planning strategies, notably for the critical wetlands and
vulnerable shorelines. CRC works in close concert with the NORAD funded consultancy team and the Town and Country Planning Department whom are responsible
for developing the regional spatial plan in order to integrate the spatial planning and analysis already completed for the districts. The NORAD program was slated to end in
May of 2012 but a ten-month extension has been granted to allow for follow-up up work on the plan and transiting to an implementation program that could see the Oversight
Committee, together with elements of the Hen Mpoano Advisory Committee, morph or evolve into both a Regional Marine and Coastal Commission and some form of a
Regional Development Authority. DFID is set to support this move with a focus on the coastal commissionfoundation see the section on the Coastal Fund 1.1.8 below.
1.1.5 Study Tour to the Philippines
This study tour to the Philippines has been planned to share experiences on setting up a coastal commission. Study tour participants representing public and private sectors and
civil society have been identified. Logistical preparations made and the study tour design completed. The study tour will take place in the third quarter of Year 3.
1.1.6 Strengthening the Center for Coastal Management at UCC
Within the University of Cape Coast, the Center for Coastal Management, housed within the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, has been assisted in the development
of an action plan. This Center will run a second climate change short course in the coming semester as well as finalize curriculum development programs for schools on
wetlands conservation, and provide support and advisory services to programs in Fisheries, ICM and DistrictRegional planning.
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1.1.7 Training for Regional and District ICM and Fisheries Professionals
Under an MOU signed in December 2011, CRC is collaborating with the National Office of Town and Country Planning Department TCPD in a pioneering training program for
the Planners and Technicians from the six coastal districts on using GIS for district spatial planning, structural planning, and local plans. This is the first training program of its kind
in Ghana. The TCPD personnel are participating in four two-week sessions that will allow them to use GIS software packages developed for Ghana and to shift from drafting
table planning to computer based planning. This activity is expected to support proper physical development planning and to reduce human and physical vulnerability in the face
of changing climatic events and its impacts in the coastal areas. The trained technicians who are largely responsible for developing schemes and local plans for the districts will
be equipped with the capacity to use of the GIS tools to better zone land resources land management, especially the siting of structures at inappropriate locations, e.g
streamswaterways, valleys, floodplains and wetland, unstable beaches, etc. and reduce the risk and conflict of human development and natural resources.
Figure 4: A GIS training laboratory at the TCPD offices in Sekondi refurbishment and equipment is by the courtesy of the Hen Mpoano Initiative
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A full training lab has been set-up by CRC at the TCPD Regional Offices so that 15 people can be trained at a time. To date, three of the four training sessions have been
completed with a total of 21 participants. CRC has also funded computer equipment to the four districts that previously did not have equipment. This program is also supported
by the USAID funded LOGODEP in the Shama District as well as the Regional TCPD office. It is important to note that this training lab is also being used to train the agents
and officials of the regional Fisheries Commission on computer skills.
Details of trainees district planners and the Fisheries Commission staff have been lodged in Trainet and are annexed Annex 2 to this report.
1.1.8 A Coastal Fund
