Managing natural resources is a critical and complex issue for both developed and developing nations. It is technically thought-provoking and often entails difficult trade-offs for some political and socio-economic considerations. It drives developments and ensures poverty reduction.
Ghana is a nation endowed with rich natural resources. Its land, water, forests and fisheries underpin the sustained productivity on which Africans depend directly for economic growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development. However, strategies to reduce poverty should not lead to further degradation of water resources or ecological service.
Finding a balance between these objectives is key to sustainability. Ghana’s current pattern of development puts a lot of stress on the environment. Faced with increasing population density, growing climate change threat and an incessant exploitation of natural resources (including fisheries and timber) to meet the legitimate socio-economic aspirations of the people, Ghana’s natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate. Consequently, many Ghanaians (over the past few decades) have been subjected to the ravages of either droughts or floods-a situation that now threatens the Ghana’s economic strides.
Although current policies, institutional efforts and overall environmental awareness in the country are commendable there is still the need to continuously adopt realistic and implementable environmental policies and strategies to safeguard the economy. Proper management of Ghana’s economy requires that efforts should be redirected into more environmentally sustainable programs and practices. Assessment of the potential environmental impacts of development projects and planning in advance to mitigate or eliminate these impacts will decrease environmental costs to the economy and make more cost-effective use of the country’s resources. Like the benefits of increased education or improved governance, the protection, restoration, and enhancement of our natural resources tends to have multiple and synergistic benefits.
