George Wiafe Phd University of Ghana (wiafeg@ug.gh)

1. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, FOOD SECURITY: Land-based activities, biological resources, fisheries George Wiafe Phd University of Ghana (wiafeg@ug.edu.gh)

2. Outline of Presentation • Ecosystem as economic driver • Challenges of ecosystem • Addressing challenges • Case study in Ghana • Conclusion

3. ??? Underlying questions • What are the coastal ecosystem functions which support or provide goods and services? • What are the relative values of coastal ecosystems services? • How can we predict the impact of management decisions on coastal ecosystem services and related benefits and costs? • How can we make this information available in a useful and usable form?

4. On the same page • ECOSYSTEM SERVICES • benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems

5. Categories of Ecosystem Services • Provisioning services • food (including seafood and game), crops, wild foods, and spices • water • pharmaceuticals, biochemicals, and industrial products • energy (hydropower, biomass fuels) • Regulating services • carbon sequestration and climate regulation • waste decomposition and detoxification • purification of water and air • crop pollination • pest and disease control • Supporting services • nutrient dispersal and cycling • seed dispersal • Primary production • Cultural services • cultural, intellectual and spiritual inspiration • recreational experiences (including ecotourism) • scientific discovery

6. On the same page • RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • management of (natural) resources to bring into being development that is economically viable, socially beneficial, and ecologically sustainable

7. On the same page • FOOD SECURITY • all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO)...(that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies) (US Dept. Agric)

8. GCLME in context • Highly sensitive area, where a number of ecosystems exist in a state of balance. • Interchange within and between physical, biological, social, cultural and economic processes. • Pressures from human habitation and economic development are common • E.g. environmental degradation and deterioration of water quality, habitat and biodiversity loss, with underlying poverty. • 75% of the world’s population currently live within 60km of the coast. • Need for acceleration of capabilities for integrated coastal zone management.

9. Fisheries Sector • The major resource of the GCLME . • 10 million fishers in sub-Saharan Africa, 7 million of which are from West and Central Africa. • Contributes 10% of GDP in some countries, e.g. Liberia

10. Extractive Sector • Huge oil resources (how beneficial???) • Sand mining at Fielnon II area & Mariell beaches in Benin (Legal/illegal???)

11. Tourism Sector • Tourism is also a major activity in the coastal towns, although exact tourist flow is not well documented • Ghana: 3rd Foreign exchange earner (GDP-wise). • DR Congo: potential for development • Nigeria: several sites to see

12. Coastal/Marine envt. under threat Domestic sanitation Fisheries degradation Wetland/mangrove degradation Industrial pollution Coastal erosion Forest degradation Aquatic weed encroachment

13. Current trend and its impact • Growing variety and intensity of human activities • (e.g., energy production, fishing, coastal development, transportation) … coupled with the impacts of climate change … threaten the sustained delivery of ecosystem services.

14. Transboundary impacts • Deterioration in water quality and incidence of HABs • Socio-economic and health implications • Introduction of invasive alien species • Destruction of fishery nursery • Loss of fish/shellfish/mariculture markets and jobs • Mariculture is a potentially valuable growth industry in the GCLME. It is constrained by a general lack of information and know how • Eutrophication and mortality of marine organisms • notably sea turtles, marine mammals and effect on feeding of sea birds. • Degraded habitats and its negative aesthetic impacts on recreation/and tourism

15. Nelson Mandela Excerpt from a message to the meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Protection of the Sea, held in Cape Town (December, 1998). "Africa’s long and beautiful coasts and the abundance of marine resources can contribute to providing economic, food and environmental security for the continent. These coastal and marine resources, like the rest of Africa’s environmental resources, continue to be exploited in a manner that does not benefit Africa and her people. This is a paradox of a people dying from hunger, starvation and poverty when they are potentially so rich and well endowed."

16. Holy Grail Credit: Cicin-Sain (University of Delaware)

17. Ecosystem-Based Mgt.

18. GCLME initiative • Challenge • To combat depletion of living marine resource depletion and degradation of GCLME through ecosystem-based regional actions (towards sustainable utilization of living resources) • Goals (R3) • Recover depleted fish stocks • Restore degraded habitats • Reduce land and ship-based pollution • Activities • Development of Strategic Action Programme + sustainable financing • Recovery and sustainability of depleted fisheries and living marine resources • Biodiversity conservation, restoration of degraded habitats & reduction in coastal erosion • Reduction of land and sea-based pollution and improve water quality • Regional Coordination and Institutional Sustainability

19. LME to TDA to SAP: THEN ??? LME Module TDA SAP Productivity Regional & national reforms to maintain productivity, sustain fisheries & ecosystem & reduce pollution Transboundary issues, identify threats & root causes Fish resources & fisheries Pollution & Ecosystem Health Economics instruments, investment Socio-economic impact analyses & prioritization Socio-economics Legal, policy reforms, ministerial level adoption, stakeholders Governance and stakeholder analysis Governance

20. BOTTOM UP! Addressing the challenge of coastal erosion in Ghana

21. Ghana Coastal Zone • Coastal zone of Ghana is 7% total land area; defined as 30m contour and 200nm EEZ • Length of coastline 540km • Coastal population 25% • 70% of industries and business are coastal

22. Potentially an economic driver. BUT . . . Introduction Ghana Coastal zone under threat: Coastal dwellers, seat of government, roads, fish landing sites, thermal plant, turtle nesting sites, mangroves, wetlands, coastal tourism, etc. etc N = No exp(-m x) N = no. of users $$ ~ m-1

23. Threat of Coastal Erosion !!! Coastal erosion threatens public and private safety and property (Feb, 2009).

24. Rapid Beach Erosion (Cape Coast) Moderate waves; rapid beach change Threatening nearby roadway (shore protection a decade ago)

25. Protection at Cape Coast But likely Over-washing during storms

26. Severe Beach Erosion (Accra) Coastal erosion threatening settlement and threatening the seat of Government

27. Rapid Beach Erosion (Ada) Destruction of coastal roads and increased health risk due to erosion

28. Beach Erosion (Kokrobite) Nearby wide sandy beach (similar to left a decade ago) Present sand-starved rocky shoreline

29. Rapid Beach Erosion (Ada) Over 2 m vertical beach change Roadway actively washing away

30. Rapid Beach Erosion (Anyanui) Roadway actively washing away

31. Shore Protection (Keta)

32. Erosion hotspots

33. University of Ghana Coastal Process Program + LONG TEM GOAL • To provide understanding of the processes driving coastal change and evolution in Ghana OBJECTIVES • To develop a monitoring program to address erosion issues • Examine beach response on inter-annual and seasonal time scales • Predict future erosion trend under sea level rise scenarios • Improve predictive capability for sediment transport • Develop region-wide reference model • To develop capability in satellite imagery analyses • complement in-situ measurments with suite of satellite data • ship detection, oil spills, maritime traffic (SAR) • resource management & conservation (Geoeye, Digiglobe,etc) • To investigate the upweling dynamics in the Gulf of Guinea

34. Approach • Insfrastructure/Equipment • Human capacity development • Institutional collaboration • Monitoring/Research • Sustainability

35. Paradigm for Building Human capital • Ecosystems that humans rely on for services are poorly understood, scarcely monitored, and often only appreciated after they are lost. • Active research & monitoring programs play a key role in providing sets of management options and potential consequences. • African Champions !!!

36. ACTIVITIES

38. Credit: Boateng

39. Mukwe lagoon inlet Kpeshie lagoon inlet Credit: Boateng

40. Directional Waverider Buoy (June, 2010)

41. DevCoCast (Ghana) (GEONETCast by and for Developing countries)

42. Conclusion • Most marine habitats now exhibit “stress” from human activities (Noted also for GCLME) • Explosive population growth is expected to continue in coastal regions and will “increase stress”(exacerbated by climate change). • Science-based management strategies are essential to stem deterioration of coastal environments.

43. Scaling up • Local institutional collaboration • Regional collaboration • Support training and research • Collaborative research • Developing critical mass for regional competence

44. Conclusion • Limited capacity and poor infrastructure are major impediments to better management performance for coastal/marine habitats. • Management performance constrained by limited investment in research and monitoring

45. Take home ! • Environmental management is a politically mediated activity. • Appropriate strategies required to disseminate scientific information into the public policy arena African solution:- maybe scientists taking politicians as spouses

46. Future generation: observers or participants? Thank U