Pupils in Western North educated on waste management

The Centre for Sustainable Rural Agriculture and Development (CSRAD), a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), has organised a one-day sensitisation workshop to educate pupils on how to make good use of waste plastics to prevent them from polluting water bodies, especially the Amanzule Wetlands.

The Project Director of CSRAD, Mr Michael Kermah said the preservation of the Amanzule Wetlands would bring more economic profits to the people staying along the wetlands.

He said change was difficult but always brought benefits to the people when they changed the attitude of indiscriminate littering to save the environment.

He observed that CSRAD concentration on schools was to ‘catch them very young’ so that when the education was well done, they would grow to see a better environment and enjoy the future.

Mr John Ackah, a representative of the Chief of Bakanta, Nana Nwozah III, said the Amanzule Wetlands were very useful to all the communities along the wetlands and must be conserved.

He indicated that the area provided livelihood, tourism, entertainment and other benefits, adding that the fishes, monkeys, birds, crocodiles, fauna and flora provided a spectacular scene making the area very attractive for tourism.

The Agriculture and Environmental Coordinator of the Ghana Education Service (GES) at the Ellembelle District of the Western Region, Mr Ebenezer Cudjoe Adebah, observed that the Amanzule Wetlands provided diversity of ecosystem services of local and national significance.

He said the wetlands host diversity of endangered wildlife and had been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Bird Life International adding “the wetland is one of the only two coastal IBAs in Ghana but had no formal conservation status.”

Mr Adebah said the ecosystem services assessment done by CSRAD to develop working tool and system for stakeholder decision making and planning of wetlands conservation and management practices was in the right direction.

The School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Coordinator of the GES, Madam Elizabeth Joe, told the gathering that all things made by God had a purpose so man must learn to preserve what nature had given us.

She said the indiscriminate disposal of refuse and the littering of the environment with plastic waste had major consequences on human life yet with all the education man did not see it necessary to change for a cleaner environment adding “Zoomlion collecting the refuse does not give the chance for people to litter anyhow.”

Five schools which took part in using plastic waste to make bags, nets caps and other things were rewarded with books on Environmental Science, Mathematics and English.

Atuabo Methodist Junior High School (JHS) emerged first, followed by Ampain District Assembly (D/A), Akoto/Aloakpoke D/A JHS, Azulenloanu SDA JHS and Ayanzinli/Bakanta D/A JHS.