Lessons learnt from GEF/SGP projects in the arid/semi-arid zones of Ghana and to some extent even in the forest zones showed that the rate of deforestation and its effect on the Ghana environment was enormous. The main causes of deforestation were found to be the following: unsustainable slash and burn agriculture or shifting cultivation, bushfires, over extraction of fuelwood from the wild and free-grazing of livestock leading to over-grazing. Further lessons learnt were that efforts at deliberate afforestation had not met with the expected success because of two major threats namely, bushfires and free grazing of livestock.
In response to the above threats, a pilot project using multi-media ? theatre, drama, dance and electronic media to campaign against these two major threats on the local and global environment particularly their effects on soils, rivers rainfall, agriculture, flora and fauna biodiversity, climate change and in general people?s livelihood and survival on the earth. Whereas the live theatre and drama was well received by the rural communities, a two minute video clip was well received by the urban populations and has since been repeatedly used by the national television networks. The NGO has also won awards for their role in environmental protection: the UNEP Award for ?Saving the Dryland? ; Upper West Regional Award for ?Environmental Management and Women Empowerment? and Accreditation to UNCCD.