Conservation at a Flyway Scale: Ghana
Discover how we're helping to restore Ghana’s wooded savannahs on the East Atlantic Flyway
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A superhighway with savannahs
At the RSPB, an important part of our work is protecting and restoring vital habitat at key landscapes along the East Atlantic Flyway. This is a bird migration superhighway that connects over 70 countries from the Arctic all the way to the southern tip of Africa. This includes the UK.
However, much of the habitat along the Flyway has become degraded and fragmented. This includes the wooded savannahs of northern Ghana, where RSPB Flyway Conservation Outreach Officer, Nick Williams, travelled to support ongoing work designed to restore important habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Ghana’s fragmented habitat
Every year, the wooded savannahs of northern Ghana see the arrival of thousands of birds from Europe. In Mole National Park, a protected area in the region, Nick and colleagues spotted 38 different species in just one morning. Five of these were species that breed in the UK, including Pied Flycatchers, Willow Warblers and Yellow Wagtails.
However, outside protected areas, much of the habitat suitable for birds and other wildlife has been broken into disconnected patches. Before this animals ranging from huge elephants to tiny songbirds could move around the landscape much more easily.
While driving with Nick through Mole, Joseph, Project Officer for Research and Conservation Science at Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS), explained the vital role of acacia trees for the park’s habitat restoration:
“They are so important for elephants and for migrating birds but we’re losing them. We need to bring them back.
“As migrant birds return here from Europe they arrive when most other trees are bare. So, the acacias, which still have leaves, provide them with shade and they also begin to fruit at this time which attracts insects, so the returning birds have access to food”.
Taking action in the landscape
Today, the region’s protected areas are divided by farmland, human settlements, and other kinds of land-use. This makes it harder for wildlife to move through safely. So in collaboration with Ghana Wildlife Society, as well as Ghana Forestry Commission and other partners, the RSPB is working with local communities to restore areas surrounding Mole National Park and so strengthen the 'buffer zone' around the park.
As part of this work, we’re now working together to grow important native tree species in a local nursery. These trees are then planted in degraded areas with the help of local communities. We’re also collaborating with local people on bird monitoring projects and other community conservation initiatives.
The goal is for the project to serve as an example for landscape-scale conservation in the region. If similar approaches can be adopted across sub-Saharan Africa, enormous progress could be made in the conservation of birds that use the Flyway.
Reflecting on the project, Nick said:
“One day, perhaps Joseph and I will go birdwatching here again, but this time beyond the borders of the national park. Perhaps we will visit a regenerated community reserve teeming with resident wildlife as well as migratory birds that have returned from their breeding grounds to safely perch themselves amongst the acacias once more."
Acknowledgements
This work is being undertaken by the RSPB in partnership with Ghana Wildlife Society and has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Netherlands’ National Postcode Lottery, the A.G. Leventis Foundation, and the Ecological Restoration Fund.
The Ecological Restoration Fund supports work that protects biodiverse hotspots, rejuvenates degraded landscapes and promotes local environmental activism. They are committed to re-establishing nature’s essential interconnections while fostering cultural, social and economic opportunities for the communities inhabiting those landscapes.
