20
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Through this spatial planning exercise, three sites have been identified for piloting best
practices in climate change vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning as well as modeling behavior for the practice of integrated coastal management. They are: 1 the
Inchaban reservoir and its floodplain; 2 the Pra river delta and estuary and; 3 the coastline of the Shama District and its adjoining wetlands. The H
İn Mpoano Initiative is presently engaging other actors such as LOGODEP, the Jubilee Partners Oil and Gas Consortium, and
leveraging other support for the District itself in addressing the other critical issues mentioned above in order to complete the District-wide spatial management plan as a collaborative effort.
2.2.1.2 The Greater Cape Three Point Focal Area
The Greater Cape Three Points Focal Area includes the Cape Three Points Forest Reserve and peripheral areas that includes numerous coastal wetlands and diverse marine habitats Fig. 12
that are important for biodiversity and fisheries ecology. During this semester, the Initiative began with the urgent need to address a virtual open access situation resulting in accelerated
degradation of the Cape Three Points Forest Reserve. The Reserve, located in the Ahanta West District, has a surface area of 51 km
2
and represents the last remaining Guinean coastal rainforest in West Africa. As such, it has been designated as a Globally Significant
Biodiversity Area GSBA and Important Bird Area IBA. The Reserve is threatened with losing its status of GSBAIBA as it is faced with various pressures from human activities
including logging, mining, charcoal production, hunting and farming.
21 Figure 12:
Map of Cape Three Points Forest Reserve and fringe communities
CRC-Ghana through the Forestry Commission initiated a process of working towards the conservation of the Reserve. In February 2011, the H
İn Mpoano Initiative supported a 2-day retreat at Akwidaa a fringe community to the reserve to discuss the status and conservation
of the Forest Reserve. The gathering brought together stakeholders from the private sector, development partners, fringe community members, forest guards, Community Based
Advisory Groups CBAG, traditional authorities and the Ahanta West District Assembly. The outcome of the retreat was the formation of an 8-member working group to develop a
conservation and management action plan for 2011 and a 5-year management plan for the reserve. The working group has representatives from the private sector, NGOs, local elders,
and government. It held its maiden meeting in March to review previous management plans and other literature on the reserve.
It is important to note that CRC has been given the benediction from the Executive Director of the Forestry Commission and the Director of the Wildlife Division for leading the program for
more effective conservation management of the forest reserve and peripheral wetlands. To this end, the Wildlife Division has posted an agent, full time to be based in the Ahanta West
District to collaborate directly with the H
İn Mpoano Initiative. Also on board the working group is the Ghana based representative of the “Leadership for Conservation in Africa” LCA
Program. The LCA program re-groups corporations operating in Ghana whom are interested
22
in pooling corporate social responsibility funds for biodiversity conservation actions and has provisionally selected the Cape Three Points Forest Reserve as a site for long-term investment
in Ghana. In the periphery of the forest reserve several actions have been initiated through the small
grants program and partnerships for wetlands conservation. These include wetlands conservation programs at Butre and Akwadaa as well as educational programs and tourism
guide training at these sites as well as Busua and Princestown. Progress on the marine protected area aspect of this focal area is described under Activity 3.4 of this progress report.
2.2.1.3 Greater Amansuri Wetlands Focal Area
