Let’s preserve wildlife - DCD

The Mfantseman District Co-ordinating Director, Yaw Adu-Asamoah, has called for the reintroduction of traditional practices that helped wildlife and the conservation of the ecosystem.

Our forefathers in their wisdom set aside certain days when no human activity took place in forests and sacred groves to help conserve the eco-system, he stated.

He was speaking at a workshop on the theme, "Protection of Threatened Species in Ghana through Totems", organised by the Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS) with the support of the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for traditional rulers, Fire Service and Police personnel and operators in the bush meat business.

It was aimed at documenting traditional practices and totems that could be used to protect threatened species and to sensitise the participants on wildlife conservation.

Mr Adu-Asamoah noted that some of the traditional practices proved effective in protecting wildlife and ecosystem but had been abandoned as a result of western culture and influence.

Samuel Adabo, District Fire Officer, stressed the need to educate the public on the country's wildlife laws since people abused them with impunity.

He called for the empowerment of fire volunteers to arrest people who abused the laws.

Dr Erasmus Heneku Owusu, Executive Director of GWS, said the aim of the Totems Project in Ghana, was to ensure the protection of threatened wildlife species especially through the bush meat trade.

He stated that the project was being implemented in three key bush meat supply areas, Kumasi, Mankessim and Nkwanta.

Joseph Binlinla of the Wildlife Division based at the Kakum National Park, took the participants through the wildlife laws of the country and called on Ghanaians to use wildlife resources wisely for the benefit of the present and future generations.

Source: ghanadistricts