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Ghana is liaising with stakeholders to achieve a sustainable national oceans governance and management practices.
That enthusiasm is tied with the Sustainable Development Goals 14 and Six for an enhanced ocean health, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), has said.
“Ocean tides are changing radically, hence, the need to generate newer and deeper waves of excitement towards cherishing and protecting our ocean and the entirety of our blue planet,” the Ministry said in a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency, on Thursday.
Mrs Ophelia Mensah Hayford, the Sector Minister, signed the statement released ahead of the commemoration World Oceans Day on Saturday, June 8.
June 8 was set aside to annually reflect the importance of the ocean for all life forms on earth.
The MESTI said, in keeping up with the statement made by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the 2023 National Summit on our Blue Economy, this year’s celebration must serve as a wake-up call to Ghanaians to explore new depths to deepen strategic partnerships among stakeholders.
“For us as individuals, institutions, communities, and a nation, we are, therefore, called upon to unite in exploring new depths towards managing, protecting and sustaining our ocean to achieve a bluer, safer and better lifestyle,” the Minister emphasised.
This year’s celebration, on the theme: “Awaken New Depths”, aims to promote public awareness and actions for sustainable ocean management.
MESTI said the commemoration, amongst others, would thus seek to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, and whip up the enthusiasm of the citizenry for ocean’s protection.
“For us in Ghana, in observing the Day, the Government through the Ministry in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other key stakeholders, will like to re-emphasise the need to protect and restore the world’s oceans that connect us all.”
The Ministry said it had stepped up efforts to increase public education and awareness creation on sustainable oceans management practices, facilitate dialogues across various topics, including ocean and climate nexus, science and innovation, capacity building, biodiversity, traditional and local community knowledge.
The statement reminded citizens that all life forms on earth, including human life, depended on water.
“Even though the ocean is incredibly huge, with our complete reliance on it, we have only investigated about 10 per cent, thus very little is known about it in totality – the impacts or effects of human actions remain a mystery.
“However, it is well known that the ocean is in grave danger,” the statement noted.
It urged that the ocean be put first, while studies are conducted to discover how it more valuable than it might seem.
It was important to preserve the health of the oceans by reflecting on past actions and establishing new measures that would restore the ocean back into balance.
“It is imperative to generate a new wave of excitement towards cherishing and protecting the ocean, and giving it new life by taking actions locally and on a global scale, inspiring change in our management and utilisation of the world’s oceans,” it said.
It is important to build a progressive coalition for an enhanced ocean health and the accelerated development of our coastal communities and country at large.
