SAKUMO RAMSAR SITE: A Sacred Trust, Not a Negotiable Parcel

“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” —David Brower

🌍 The Sakumo Ramsar Site—1,400 hectares of wetland nestled between Accra and Tema—is more than a geographic feature. It is a living covenant between nature and nation. Yet today, this sacred trust faces relentless encroachment, corruption, and destruction. The recent demolitions, though painful, are a necessary reckoning. But the deeper question remains: how do we protect what is irreplaceable?

🛡️ Why Wetlands Must Be Preserved
Wetlands like Sakumo are ecological powerhouses:

Flood Control: They absorb excess rainwater, preventing urban flooding. Sakumo’s degradation contributed to recent floods in Tema West.
Biodiversity: Home to migratory birds, amphibians, and native flora. Globally, wetland destruction has led to species collapse—35% of amphibians are now threatened.
Water Purification: Wetlands filter pollutants, recharge aquifers, and regulate water cycles.
Climate Resilience: They store carbon and buffer against climate shocks. Their loss amplifies global warming.

“No water, no life. No blue, no green.” —Sylvia Earle

🌐 Lessons from Global Failures
Across the world, Ramsar sites have suffered due to weak enforcement:

Hokera Wetland, Kashmir: Encroachment and pollution have decimated bird populations and disrupted hydrology.
Florida Everglades, USA: Urban sprawl and drainage projects led to massive biodiversity loss, prompting billion-dollar restoration efforts.
Lake Naivasha, Kenya: Overuse and pollution from flower farms degraded water quality and fish stocks.

Ghana must not follow this path. We must act before restoration becomes impossible.

🧭 A Call for Moral Leadership and Military Stewardship

The time has come to move beyond demolition. We must institutionalize protection:

Hand Over Ramsar Sites to the Ghana Armed Forces Field Engineers (Sappers): Their discipline, neutrality, and logistical capacity make them ideal custodians. Let them fence, reforest, and monitor these zones.
Digitize Wetland Boundaries: Use GIS and drone mapping to prevent future encroachment.
Create Wetland Ceremonies: Annual rituals led by traditional leaders to honor the land, educate youth, and reinforce sacred boundaries.

“Let us be good stewards of the Earth we inherited… each of us has a role to play in preserving it.” —Kofi Annan

🕊️ A Civic Covenant
Let Sakumo be our soullout cross—our moral line in the sand. We must not negotiate away nature’s inheritance. We must not trade ecological integrity for short-term gain. And we must not allow silence to become complicity.

Let this be our pledge:
To protect wetlands is to protect life.

To defend boundaries is to defend legacy.

To act now is to honor tomorrow.
Retired Senior Citizen &
Legal Advocate, Civic Strategist
Teshie-Nungua
[email protected]