The Wechiau hippopotamus sanctuary is located in Wechiau in the Upper West region of Ghana. It is a classic example of a traditional community resource management area created in 1999 by local chiefs who used taboos and local regulations to conserve the hippos.
The local people who are not technically proficient, knowledgeable and skilled to undertake sound management and conservation of the scarce resource to the management of the sanctuary.
The wildlife sanctuary is also threatened by a myriad of problems such as unsustainable agriculture expansion practices, fuel-wood extraction, charcoal burning, The situation has threatened the habitat and the hippopotamus species.
The project is in a timely advent to raise the knowledge and technical capacity of local people to effectively and efficiently manage and conserve the resource. The project will also reclaim degraded areas within the habitat, enhance the adoption of agroforestry and sustainable land management practices by farmers fringing the reserve, raise awareness on nature conservation, wildlife and biodiversity protection using creative art/art codes, and to initiate a Collaborative Resource Management unit to bring together stakeholders (Traditional authority and indigenous people, Ghana wildlife Division, Ghana Tourism board, NGOs and potential investors) to extend the ripples conservation action, management and increase the economic viability of the sanctuary.
Read more on the project at http://www.agrointroductionsgh.org/save-the-wechiau-community-hippos-now/
No Comments