Increase investment in digital technologies to address Wildlife Challenges- Ecocare Ghana

EcoCare Ghana, a prominent environmental advocacy organisation, is urging for increased investment and the implementation of advanced digital technologies to address the growing challenges facing Ghana’s wildlife on Widelife Day.

The World Wildlife Day, March 3, is a day set to celebrate the natural world and to raise awareness of the importance of protecting wildlife.

The group emphasises the importance of creating a centralised data system to store and share information collected by scientists, researchers and the public in order to better protect Ghana’s wildlife.

Additionally, they stated that this centralised data system will facilitate precise data collection on the remaining wildlife, predict future trends and develop proactive solutions to prevent extinction.

Ghana is celebrated for its seven national parks, six resource reserves, two wildlife sanctuaries and diverse biodiversity.

The country known for hosting over 750 bird species and iconic wildlife like antelopes, elephants, primates, baboons, marine turtles, and crocodiles is currently encountering unparalleled challenges.

Various human activities, such as poaching, deforestation, pollution, overfishing, overhunting, illegal trade, and both legal and illegal mining, have pushed many species to the verge of extinction, according to Global Forest Watch. The report shows a significant loss of 118,000 hectares of natural forest in 2022.

Although there are continuous attempts to conserve and manage biodiversity sustainably, conventional conservation approaches have limited effectiveness.

In light of this, Ecocare Ghana emphasised in a statement the importance and timeliness of the World Wildlife Day (WWD) 202 on the theme ‘Connecting People and Planet: Exploring digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation”

The organisation stated that in a time where technology plays a significant role in society, incorporating digital innovations into wildlife conservation is essential for advocating sustainability.

“As we commemorate WWD today, it is crucial to highlight certain events within our country that are hindering the efforts to preserve and protect the habitats of wildlife and biodiversity is important to draw attention to some occurrences on the domestic scene which is undermining efforts being made to protect and safeguard the habitat of wildlife and other biodiversity,” they added.

The recent choice made by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to reclassify Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs) and permit logging in these areas is a significant setback to the positive leadership he demonstrated on the global stage.

They, therefore, also used this occasion to call for the repeal of LI 2462 which allows for mining in forest reserves and other protected areas.

According to them “EcoCare Ghana advocates for the strategic use of technology to benefit both people and the environment. This is a critical moment to strengthen the bond between humans and the natural world through the integration of technology in wildlife conservation initiative We call on all stakeholders to prioritise and support digital innovations to protect Ghana’s wildlife for future generations.”