WHRO and some members of the community cleaning the beach
Wild life and Human Resources Organisation (WHRO), an environmental NGO dedicated to building capacity for natural resources protection and conservation has embarked on a clean-up exercise at Ningo Prampram in the Greater Accra Region.
The maiden edition of the exercise was organized by the NGO to commemorate World Ocean Day observed on June 8 every year to raise awareness of the vital importance of the ocean in sustaining a healthy planet.
The two-day exercise started with a public awareness campaign at the Prampram Vocational and Technical School where students were educated on the effects of poor sanitation especially on the impacts of plastic pollution in the seas as well as the importance of the ocean in conserving wildlife.
Apart from the WHRO staff and students from the University of Ghana, other organizations like the Coastal Association of Neighbourhood, ECOZOIL and the Prampram District Assembly joined to clean the beaches in the area.
Executive Director of Wild life and Human Resources Organisation (WHRO), Dr. Andrews Agyekumhene in an interview said there are lots of benefits derived from the sea that help in the economic development of countries such as Ghana.
According to him, apart from serving as a tool for economic development in Ghana, the ocean also regulates the climate and offers jobs for majority of the fisher folks whose livelihood largely depend on it.
“We get fish, oil, gas from the ocean and so, conserving its resources is very important especially at a time when all forms of plastic materials are dumped into the sea. Such negative practices would endanger the aquatic plants and animals”.
He, therefore, urged members of the community to promote and embark on practices that protect and conserve the country’s natural resources for a healthy environment for the benefits of present and future regenerations.
Members of the community at the end of the exercise thanked the organisation for leading the campaign to clean their communities and promised to adhere to the advice to help sustain the environment.
BY Ebenezer K. Amponsah