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Researchers Demarcate ecological zones
for Ghana
Accra, Sept. 21, Ghanadot/GNA - Ghana's ecological regions
have been divided into 12 from a previous six due to rapid
changes in land use, two researchers announced in Accra on
Friday.
The research conducted by Albert Allotey, Department of
Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana and
Emmanuel Techie-Obeng, Senior Programme Officer of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said with the fast
degradation in the ecological system of the country the six
zones were no longer viable.
The original zones were the Deciduous Forest, Semi-Deciduous
Forest, the Coastal Savannah, Sudan Savannah, Guinea
Savannah and the Transitional Zone.
The names of the 12 new ones would be agreed to by a team of
experts meeting in Accra to discuss the research and make
recommendations to government.
Presenting the findings to Journalists in Accra on Friday,
the two researchers said the re-zoning was as a result of a
tentative study of the topography of Ghana over the past
thirty years.
Mr Allotey disclosed that the study, which was collaboration
between AGRHMET a Regional Training Centre in Niger and the
U.S Geological survey, used satellite imagery and fieldwork
to monitor the changes in the ecological regions.
Mr Emmanuel Techie-Obeng said that the study found that
Ghana's ecological zones had undergone several changes
between the period 1972 and the year 2000.
He said the results aggregated to the national level showed
a moderate change with an increase in the Savannah from 55
percent to 58 percent.
The results further indicated that cropland had expanded
marginally from 18 percent to 26.2 percent with a decline in
the forestland from 23 percent to 10.2 percent.
The new zones are the Akwapim Togo Mountains, Closed Guinea
Savannah, Coastal Savannah, Closed Sudan Savannah, Central
Transitional Zone and the Deciduous Forest.
The rest include Eastern Sudan Savannah, Eastern Traditional
Zone, Main Transitional Zone, Open Guinea Savannah, the Rain
Forest and the Western Sudan Savannah.
Mr Techie-Obeng noted that there was the need to mainstream
environmental issues by providing logistics to support
natural resources and environment organisations so as to
develop models to reverse degradation trends.
He said inappropriate farming practices, rapid increase of
surface mining, mass exploitation of timber in burned forest
reserves especially in the 1990s and illegal exploitation of
resources among many other factors had over the years been
the cause of degradation in the country.
Mr Gray Tappan, Geologist with the U.S Geological Survey
presenting an overview of ecological Land use Land cover
said his studies on the Environment of Senegal and Niger
revealed that Niger had made improvement in their forest
Reserves.
He said Ghana could make progress if government paid
attention to recommendations made by the research's
findings.
GNA
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