Wildlife Clubs of Ghana is 21 years

Accra, May 15, GNA - Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu, Founder of the Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS) on Thursday urged various wildlife clubs in the country to translate their interest and knowledge in nature conservation into action to save the Ghanaian environment. She said there was also the need for the growth in wildlife clubs to reflect in the activities they organized and ensure that such activities were sustained to achieve the overall objective of environmental conservation.

Prof. Ntiamoa-Baidu was speaking at a programme to launch the 21st anniversary of the Wildlife Clubs of Ghana (WCG) and to highlight the achievements and challenges of the clubs as well as look at the way forward for the clubs.

She said the WCG, which is a junior wing of the Ghana Wildlife Society was established as a movement in 1987 to help children and the youth to learn about nature and appreciate it. "The genesis of the Club was to address the lack of understanding, conscientiousness and commitment in safeguarding the ecosystem and species in the environment."

She said over the years, the Club which started with two branches now had over thousand branches and had been used as an instrument for advocacy on environmental issues.

Highlighting some achievements of the Club, she said the clubs campaigned and contributed to the banning of the trade in African Grey parrots in Ghana, petitioned government and demonstrated against further development of the Delta Ramsar site and its flood plains in Ghana and were contracted by the Coastal Wetlands Management Project to undertake environmental education and public awareness campaigns around five coastal Ramsar sites.

She said the Wildlife Clubs of Ghana were seen as resources where other countries that wanted to set up Wildlife clubs came for training. Mr Erasmus Owusu, Executive Director of the GWS said a lot of activities including a route march through the principal streets of Accra, art and writing competitions, national quiz competition, national youth forum on environment and the wildlife national festival, among others, would be organized as part of the 21st year-long anniversary celebration

He called for the public involvement and participation in the programmes and urged the media to pay more attention to environmental issues.