In 2020, a Concept Note for the preparation of a second volume of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper “The Nansen Programme: Investigations of Fishery Resources in Developing Regions, History of the Programme and Review of Results”, prepared by the EAF-Nansen Programme Coordinating Unit, was approved at the Norad/FAO/IMR Annual meeting. The report is intended to cover results of the activities in the third and fourth phases of the Nansen Programme, including surveys with the second R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen which operated between 1994 and 2016.
As in many parts of west and central Africa, the bushmeat trade in Ghana plays an important role in peoples’ livelihoods and provides a valuable source of animal protein and micronutrients to numerous consumers. It also represents one of the most pressing conservation challenges in the region (Ripple et al. 2016).
The Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa was an ESPA (Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation) funded research programme designed to deliver much-needed, cutting-edge science on the relationships between ecosystems, zoonoses, health and wellbeing, with the objective of helping people move out of poverty and promoting social justice. The project investigated whether disease regulation as an ecosystem service is affected by changes in biodiversity, climate and land use, with differential impacts on people’s health and well-being.
As one of the 23 research projects, the Women Rise initiative seeks to support gender-transformative research on the intersection of women’s health and COVID-19. The initiative aims to fill critical knowledge gaps about factors affecting women’s health during and after COVID-19. Through this, the Women Rise initiative will generate evidence that can inform post-COVID-19 recovery. The Ghana case study examines female bushmeat traders’ socio-economic and health vulnerabilities during and after COVID-19. Even though bushmeat trading has long been a major livelihood activity for women, there is a dearth of knowledge on the health hazards of the trade, including women’s exposure to zoonotic diseases.
Between 2019 and 2021, the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation Research (CBCR) formerly Centre for African Wetlands (CAW), University of Ghana, worked with the Ghanaian Wildlife Division and the IUCN SSC Species Monitoring Specialist Group to develop the first systematic biodiversity monitoring system for the Shai Hills Reserve. The main objective of this project was to enhance the conservation of forest and estuarine ecosystems in Ghana by improving capacity for evidence based PA management and encourage the uptake of systems within and beyond Ghana. Implementing agencies for the project were CBCR and the IUCN SSC Species Monitoring Specialist Group.
Governments, businesses and civil society require biodiversity data to facilitate informed decision making on environmental management and conservation. However, biodiversity data are fragmented, challenging to collect or access, difficult to use, and rarely available to decision makers in appropriate formats. Challenges include lack of capacity and the absence of appropriate tools for identifying indicators and for collecting, analysing and interpreting data. Causal factors include taxonomic and geographic data biases, differences in spatial scales, and governance issues such as willingness to share information, especially in risk-averse governments and businesses.
