The major outcome of the project is that, many people including chiefs, landowners, women, children, Assembly members, and Departmental Heads both within Afram Plains and outside the District have been reached with information concerning environmental conservation. People are now more aware and conscious about their actions and inactions which directly or indirectly affect the natural environment. Since the project targets behaviour change, the resulting impacts from the outcomes are intangible and gradual.

1. Research into Land Tenure and Land Use in Afram Plains

Prior to the suspension and subsequent review of the project activities, one major activity in the initial proposal had been implemented awaiting the final report. This was a research into the land tenure system and land use and their effect on environmental degradation in Afram Plains. The research was co-ordinated by a resource person from the ?Land Resource Department? of KNUST in Kumasi, Dr. Edmundson.

The research is a project on its own with the following objectives
? To examine the magnitude of the environmental degradation in the Afram Plains.
? To determination the causes of the environmental damage.
? To explore what interventions can be put in place to arrest or mitigated the damage or reverse the situation.
? To sensitize the stakeholders about their contribution to the problem and what they can do to enhance the environment of the Afram Plains.

On the causes of environmental degradation in the Afram Plains, the research established that both man and nature have combined to create an almost irreversible environmental damage in the Afram Plains. The once rain forest which used to support cocoa, cola and major food crops have become infertile due to the erosion and human activities such as shifting cultivation and charcoal burning.

According to the final research report, ?Factors that have seriously contributed to environmental damage can be attributed to the following:

1.Inundation by the lake
2.Land Tenure Arrangement
3.Government Policy (Draw-down vegetable gardening)
4.Shifting cultivation
5.Stranger attitude
6.Lack of co-operation between development institutions.
7.Ignorance of the communities about the effect of their actions and inactions on the environment.
8.Live stock herding and charcoal burning

Series of sensitisation workshops / meetings /seminars have been held both within and outside the District to create awareness about the Afram Plains? environmental situation.

2. Sensitisation Seminars for chiefs and opinion leaders in Afram Plains

In Afram Plains, the district was zoned into 5 areas and a seminar organised for each zone. In each zone, between 45 and 60 participants attended. The participants included chiefs/headmen and other community opinion leaders such as Area Council members, Unit Committee executives, Assembly members and fire volunteers. Personnel from the District Offices of Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS); Forestry services Division (FSD); Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA); and other decentralised departments were invited to each of the work as resource persons and also discuss what their respective departments are doing towards environmental conservation.
Although all the workshops focussed on sensitising participants generally on environmental issues, the discussions ended up been narrowed to the causes, control and preventive measure to stop bushfires as bushfires have been identified as the major cause of environmental degradation in the District.

3. Information Sharing workshop for Land Owners and Traditional Rulers
The sensitisation outside Afram Plains targeted the traditional rulers and land owners who are the custodians of the lands in Afram Plains. These land owners do not stay in Afram Plains and are only represented in by headmen on their lands in Afram Plains. All the land owners and their reps (headmen) as well as heads of government agencies/departments attended the sensitisation workshop organised by APDO at the Kwahu Traditional Council Hall at Mpraeso.

4. PROMOTION OF ENERGY SAVING STOVES

Promotion of the energy saving stove through both capacity building and direct construction in communities. The capacity building/training targeted the commercial users of fuel-wood such as pito brewers and chop bar operators as well as women groups like church groups among others. Pupils, mostly Green Club members were also trained under the child-to-child approach, to help promote and construct them in households in their communities.

i. Training of Chop Bar Operators and Pito Brewers on promotion and construction of energy saving stoves. As the project?s aim is to influence behaviour change towards sustainable use of natural resources in the long term, especially fuel-wood, this particular activity targeted the mass consumers of fuel-wood. Pito brewers and chop bar operators have therefore been trained on how to construct and promote the energy saving stoves among themselves so as to reduce the rate of fuel wood consumption.

ii. Training of Pupils on Construction and Promotion of Energy Saving Stoves. As a strategy to increase the promotion and adoption of the energy saving stoves among households in the communities, Green Club members were trained and encouraged to facilitate the promotion in their respective communities. A total of about 250 pupils (Green Club Members) from four schools were trained since the inception of the project.

iii. Formation and Training of More Green Clubs in Schools
Sensitisation continued in schools which do not have green clubs to encourage them to form some. The sensitisation targeted pupils in upper primary and junior secondary schools. Schools visited for this sensitization included all schools in Ekye-Amanfrom, Maame Krobo, Kwame Dwamena and Donkorkrom

5. BUSHFIRE MANAGEMENT

Continued anti-bush fire campaign through workshops/seminars with community level opinion leaders.
All the anti-bushfire campaigns took the form of sensitisation at workshops. The main target were opinion leaders such as chiefs, queen mothers, Assembly members, Unit Committee Executives, Fire Volunteers and youth leaders.