Conserving Ghana's threatened trees
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Status of project
Ongoing -
Region
Africa -
Country
Ghana -
Programme
BGCI's Tree Conservation Programme -
Topic
Tree Conservation
Ghana’s threatened trees
Ghana has a wealth of native tree diversity, with more than 900 native tree species, three of which are endemic to the country. Endemics include charismatic Critically Endangered species such as the tree Talbotiella gentii. More than ten percent (120) of Ghana’s native tree species are threatened with extinction. There is an urgent need for well-planned conservation action.
Conservation planning workshop
Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) and CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (CSIR-FORIG) hosted a four-day workshop funded by Fondation Franklinia to effectively plan conservation action for Ghana’s threatened tree species, with a particular focus on thirty-nine endemic and near-endemic species. Planning contributors who attended the workshop included representation from 17 organisations including government, NGOs, and academic institutions.
Conservation action plan
Based on the outputs of the workshop, a national conservation action plan has been published and provides a roadmap to future conservation activities in the country. The conservation action plan is underpinned by a vision and eight goals which outline the broad operational themes for conservation activity for Ghana’s threatened trees over the next 30 years.
Vision
By 2050, Ghana’s threatened trees and their habitats are mapped, monitored, protected and restored through coordinated data-driven action with local communities and other key stakeholders.
Goals
- Goal 1: Distribution of all the threatened trees are mapped
- Goal 2: Ecology, population and phenology information on threatened trees is known, monitored and freely available
- Goal 3: Propagation protocols of threatened trees are documented and available
- Goal 4: Genetically representative ex situ collections for threatened trees are established
- Goal 5: Restoration of landscapes using native and threatened trees
- Goal 6: Threatened trees with socio-economic value are used within agroforestry systems
- Goal 7: Threatened trees are protected and managed in situ
- Goal 8: Local communities are engaged and empowered to conserve their threatened trees
Ghana’s Threatened Tree Consortium
A Threatened Tree Consortium has been established to implement actions and is coordinated jointly by CSIR-FORIG and BGCI. The consortium is an informal group of experts and not officially registered as a separate entity. Members of the consortium have the responsibility of engaging in the planning meetings and signing on to actions that they will be undertaking with regards to threatened tree conservation.
Key actions of the Ghana Threatened Tree Consortium (GTTC)
- Fondation Franklinia generously opened a call for proposals, specifically targeting Ghana to support the implementation of the plan. As a result, seven institutions have received funding to conserve at least 39 threatened tree species. Many of these projects are collaborative in nature involving several members of the GTTC
- Online and in-person meetings to share achievements and lessons learnt
- Newsletters to share progress towards the conservation action plan, news and fundraising and training opportunities
- A major achievement is the development of TTIS-Gh portal by CSIR-FORIG which is freely available here. It provides data on taxonomy, distribution, ecology, species use, population, ex situ conservation, presence in nurseries, propagation, research, in situ conservation, policy interventions and local community engagement.