West African journalists attend workshop on forest conservation, climate change
Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP-WA) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), have held a five-day training workshop for a select group of West African journalists in the Guinean capital of Conakry.
The workshop, which is themed: “Sharing strategies for the sustainable management of forest resources and adaptation to climate change”, began on Monday. May 16 and will end Friday, May 20, 2011.
In all, 25 journalists from 11 countries in West Africa including Ghana are attending the 5th annual workshop to be organised by the Global Water Partnership. The 4th edition was held in Ghana in May 2010.
The other countries taking part are Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Togo and Benin.
According to the organisers, the five-day workshop is aimed at equipping the 25 journalists to raise awareness of decision makers and the population on issues and challenges of sustainable management of forest resources and their adaptation to climate change.
As part of the training, the journalists were taken through topics such as “Forest resources in West Africa: stakes and challenges,” “Sustainable management strategies of forest resources and adaptation to climate change: -Case of Guinea (Futa Jallon Highlands)” and “Link between water resources, forests and climate change.”
Participants also undertook a field trip to the southern part of Guinea to see at first hand the environmental, social and economic impacts of the forests of Soutianfou (Souty and Anfou) in the Kindia district.
Addressing the journalists, Dam Mogbante, Executive Secretary GWP – WA, said good management is required of forest resources for it to benefit people, adding, forests preserve water quantity and quality and allow foresters to take better charge, while forests at river banks prevent soil erosion.
For these to happen, Dam Mogbante said “We need to be convinced on the importance of forests for the development of our countries; Management and planning of water resources must be done in a sustainable way; forests can be beneficial only if we understand their dynamics.”
For his part, Ousmane S. Diallo, West and Central Africa Regional Coordinator, Water and Wetlands programme, IUCN, described the workshop as part of the IUCN’s programmes to mobilize and share knowledge for the sustainable use of forests and water.
He said “Water, forests and biodiversity are closely related and when one is degraded it affects the other.”
Further, Ousmane Diallo said because forests are reservoirs for water, have the capacity of retention and protection against erosion, the international community needs to act without delay to save them from degradation.
Stressing that deforestation brings about degradation of soil, he stated that a forest is a service provider that contributes to the life of man and brings about the sustainability of present and future generations, adding, water is essential for the preservation of forest species.
In a presentation on the state of the world’s forests, Martin Nganje, of the IUCN-PACO, in charge of the Regional Thematic Programme on Forestry said there is a lot of pressure on the continent’s forest resources.
Quoting from an FAO study released in March 2011, he said estimates show that the African continent as a whole has lost about one million hectares of forest between 2005 and 2010. “If nothing is done about this we will lose more and that will be dangerous,” he said.
The training provided a unique opportunity for journalists to strengthen collaboration among themselves, particularly in the areas of sharing information.
By Edmund Smith-Asante