Isaac Essel
22 May 2003
Accra — Out of a total an estimated 10 to 30 million natural species of flora and fauna on the earth, only 1.5 to 1.7 million species have yet been recorded, representing 17% of the total number.
In Ghana about 2,974 indigenous plant, 450 fish, 728 bird, 225 mammal, 221 amphibian and reptile species have so far been recorded.
Dr. P.K. Ofori-Danson, of the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of Ghana, Legon and a Member of the National Biodiversity Committee revealed these facts yesterday at a press conference to launch this year's International Day of Biological Diversity, which is being observed today under the theme:
"Biodiversity and Poverty Alleviation - Challenges for Sustainable Development".
In May1992, a Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was agreed to in Nairobi Kenya and was opened for signature at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992 and became operational on December 29, 1994.
Ghana, is the 12th of the 157 countries that signed the CBD and is celebrating the day nationally under a local theme of "Biodiversity Conservation, Our Survival". The day is set aside to educate the public on the importance of biological resources and need to conserve them.
Dr. Ofori-Danson was not happy that though a very small portion of the natural species has been discovered, human activities have adversely contributed to the extinction of the of some plants, animals and microbial organisms. He attributed it to the limited knowledge about the importance and the essence to conserve and maintain natural resources.
He said in less than 100 years Ghana's total forest cover has been reduced from 8.2 million hectares to less than 1.6 million hectares out of which only 32,000 hectares are in excellent condition. He advised that by expanding the knowledge of biodiversity, the material basis for future biotechnology and food production would also expand.
Dr. M. K. Antwi, Deputy Minister of Environment and Science, said human lives mainly depend on biological resources and called for concerted efforts to preserve and maintain the natural resources.
"The national theme seeks to draw the minds of Ghanaians to the fact that we could either jeopardize our future or preserve it, based on the way we exploit our biological resources".
He said the ministry is committed to provide support to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its network of institutions to monitor the environment, implement preventive and control measures that would help to restore the natural environment.
Dr. Antwi announced that the ministry has set up a National
Biodiversity Committee to harmonize all biodiversity-related policies and coordinate the implementation of strategy with other agencies to ensure that sound polices are implemented for the benefit of Ghana and the sub-region as a whole.
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