Nkonya is Located in the South Eastern corner of Ghana. Nkonya separates the Ewe from Ga-Adangme, Ga and Akan where the Volta Lake is also located. The project will be undertaken at Nkonya Tayi to Nkonya Wurupong in the Jasikan district of the Volta Region which is in the transitional forest zone and within high mountain cover. Access to basic needs (education, health, and housing) and infrastructure are below the national average. Satisfaction with the use of health facilities is slightly below the national average.

Access to amenities and services (for example, access to safe water, electricity, improved sanitation and public transport) of households in the Nkonya Traditional area falls below the national average with the widest disparity in access to safe water. More than two-thirds of a household have access to safe water source compared with 57% for rural dwellers.

The dominant ethnicity in the area is Guans and the dialects dominant in the area are Akan and Ewi.


.2.2 Problem Statement:

The Nkonya Traditional Area has a unique mountain ecosystem which provides home to most rare and endangered species in the country including keystones species like olive colobus, Lowe and spoted nosed monkeys, Africa civet (Civettictis civetta), Odum and Celtis. Unfortunately unsustainable practices such as hunting, bush burning, indiscriminate felling of trees for charcoal production and fuel wood, illegal chain saw operations for timber production has rendered the area almost a desert. All the mountain tops have been removed causing serious erosion on the slopes of the mountain. There seems to be no control on the management of the natural resources and it is even feared that many rare species on the mountain top will get extinct before they are even discover in other areas.

Unfortunately, the unregulated exploitation of natural resources to satisfy socio-economic needs has resulted in deforestation, destruction of wildlife habitat and loss of biodiversity and serious resources depleting in the Nkonya communities and its environs. Over the last two years there has been landslide after heavy rainfall..

A cooperative group was initiated by The Needy Club of Ghana which attracted Chiefs, Opinion Leaders and other people in the Nkonya community to diagnosis the problem and find solutions with the participation of UNDP, GEF/SGP which was successfully done. The Chiefs and people of the area promise their support for the programme. Community-based training plays a crucial role in the movement for social change. It is the primary tool for conscientising the poor towards organizing themselves to take actions necessary for their emancipation and development.

In a society marred by poverty and social injustice, varying development efforts are focused on addressing various issues, with main strategies focusing on conscientisation and organization. Likewise, training and education in these societies come in various forms and are determine by the political, economic, social and cultural conditions of the community.

Given the reality faced in their projects by development organizations with limited funding and resources, development programmes often revolve on specific issues and concerns of a particular community or sector. With this limitation, coupled with the lead agency?s accountability to its donor agency, emphasis is given to the effective implementation of the project, which is equally as important as the project?s intended result.

It is against this background that The Needy Club of Ghana has taken the initiative to mobilize the people to restore and conserve biodiversity in the area.

3.2 MAIN OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the project is to restore forest cover and conserve the biodiversity of the Nkonya degraded lands for the socio-economic transformation of the people.

3.3 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The specific objectives of the project are:

1) To promote sustainable land and natural resource management led by local initiative and self help activities in the community through the conservation and sustainable management of wildlife.
2) To promote eco-tourism through wildlife conservation.
3) To conserve indigenous medicinal plants.
4) To increase forest cover in the area through forestation and reforestation to serve as a carbon sink.
5) To motivate local communities in the area to participate in forest conservation and carry out environmental enhancement activities with a view to increasing revenue, restoring biodiversity, and increasing vegetative cover.
6) To promote alternative livelihood support and reduce pressure on the forest as a source of livelihood.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS:

The intended results of the project are:

1) Environmental awareness level raised and capacity building in wildfire management, enrichment planting, controlled hunting, soil fertility improvement, and agroforestry developed for 200 farmers in four communities.
2) Togo Plateau BP60-BP65 Forest Reserve restocked.
3) Appropriate farming methods adopted by 100 farmers in the project area.
4) Alternative livelihoods in fishing, grass cutter rearing and bee-keeping practiced