Damongo: A Rocha Ghana Holds Environmental Club Coordinators Capacity Building Workshop.

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A Rocha Ghana, an Environmental Non Governmental Organization (NGO), has organized a day workshop on Thursday 21st March, 2019 at the Catholic guest house- Damongo, the capital of Savannah region, to build the capacities of the coordinators/patrons of fifteen(15) selected schools in communities fringing Mole National Park.

The objective of the training is to elevate the capacities of the coordinators/patrons to fully understand and guide students to apply environmental conservation in their schools to ensure environmental sustainability.

A Rocha Ghana believes that children possess inherent attitudes of compassion for both human and non-human and therefore, the quality of their sense of natural world and environmental awareness need to be supported and encouraged The specific objective of the school environmental programme is to provide a learning platform for students to become environmentally knowledgeable, skilled and dedicated citizens who are willing to work together to help protect the environment. The school environmental club would be a platform to exalt student’s knowledge of the ecological services and biological resources of the environment and improves their skills to serve as environmental ambassadors.

The Environmental club is opened to every interested and serious student irrespective of the gender, age, religion or tribe and has no limitation in terms of the number of members. The Ghana Educational Service representative at the programme, Mr. Adam Sulemana said, GES has a bigger role to play in this programme, to ensure that the clubs are made to engage effectively in environmental issues to help achieve its objectives.
Cutting down of trees, bush burning, improper disposal of waste, open defecation, sand wining, over grazing and many more were identified as the major problems of the environment after the participants have embarked on a twenty minute nature walk.

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Mr. Isaac Kofi Ntori, a Project Officer for A Rocha Ghana, disclosed to www.Padfmonline.com that after rolling out environmental education outreaches to over 45 schools, A Rocha Ghana sees it to be very critical to establish and support the environmental clubs to sustain the programme. He indicated that children love nature but have limited knowledge about it, hence a well-coordinated schools environmental education can be a very effective tool in fostering good environmental behavior, biodiversity conservation and proper resource management among students. He finally advised the coordinators/patrons to ensure that club meetings are held outside instructional hours.

The event which coincided with the International Day of Forests was also used to sensitize the coordinators and other stakeholders on the benefits of forests, the threats they face and the need to protect them. “The year’s them; “Forest and Education” is to draw our attention on to importance of education at all levels in achieving a sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation” Mr. Ntori signaled.
The one-day coordinators capacity building workshop was attended by staff from 15 schools; Damongo Agric College, St. Anne’s Girls Senior High School, Ndewura Jakpa Senior High School, Damongo Girls Model JHS, Presby Junior High Schools “B”, Mole D/A JHS, Bawena D/A JHS, Murugu R/C JHS, Larabanga JHS, Mognori D/A Primary B”, Mole D/A Primary, Bawena D/A Primary, Murugu R/C Primary, Larabanga E/A Primary “A” and Falahiyat Primary “A” as well as representatives from the West Gonja District Education Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Yagbon Traditional Council and the media.

By: Anane Beatrice PAD FM – Damongo