<<Print>>

The Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission on Thursday called on the public to ensure better planning and control systems to reduce the impact of the spate of unsustainable land use change, and encroachment on wetlands including the Sakumo Ramsar Site. It said the impact should not only be on migratory birds populations, but also on the natural resources, economy and well-being as a whole. The call was contained in a statement issued in Accra by Nana Kofi Adu-Nsiah, Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission in a message to mark World Migratory Bird Day 2011. The World Migratory Bird Day, celebrated in the second week of May each year, is a global initiative devoted to creating awareness to promote the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats worldwide. The day is organised by the Secretariats of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) � two international wildlife treaties administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). On this day, people around the world take action and organise events such as bird festivals, education programmes and birdwatching excursions to help raise awareness around specific themes. The theme for this year�s World Migratory Bird Day is �Land use changes from a bird�s-eye view� and focuses on the negative effects human activities are having on migratory birds, their habitats and the planet�s natural environment. In Ghana, the Wildlife Division is organising educational talk for school children at the Celebrity Golf Club and bird watching at the Sakumo Ramsar Site, near Tema on Friday 13 May, 2011. Whiles using the occasion to educate school children on the importance of migratory birds as indicators of environmental change, they would take the opportunity to draw attention of the general public to the spate of unsustainable land use change, such as, encroachment on wetlands including the Sakumo Ramsar Site. �We will also call for a better planning and control systems to reduce the impacts, not only on migratory birds populations, but also on our natural resources, economy and well-being as a whole, �the statement added. Flying thousands of kilometres each year, migratory birds have a unique view of the Earth. This view enables them to notice the remarkable changes, which are currently threatening many of the planet�s ecosystems. Each year more and more sites, such as coastal wetlands, that the migratory birds depend on during their journeys either diminish in size or disappear completely. The majority of these changes is caused by human use of land and has a direct impact on migratory bird populations, which are particularly sensitive to any interference to the sites they use throughout their migratory cycle. Many aspects of human land use are extremely damaging to the birds� habitats. For example, urbanisation and intensive agriculture can fragment and replace complex networks of habitats needed by the birds. Deforestation and mineral extraction can damage entire area used by birds� during their annual migration. In addition, land reclamation and pollution degrade crucial wetlands and other habitats for many migratory bird species. The loss and fragmentation of these essential habitats are being further compounded by the effects of climate change - rising global temperatures, frequent storms and sea-level rise with threatening tidal wave impact on coastal wetlands, which are important resting areas for many migratory birds. In this context, the message for this year�s World Migratory Bird Day is a clear signal that birds are useful natural indicators for the status and trends of environmental change. They seem to be telling people what they see from the skies during their annual migratory cycle � the degrading ecosystems because of humans� destructive activities. They do not end there: they are also saying they are more concerned with the human destructive activities because it affects them too. While human survival depends on transformations of natural areas for their basic needs such as food and shelter, a sustainable use of land is vital to reduce the impacts on the natural resources, such as air, water, soil, nutrients, plants and animals. �We therefore need to do more to reduce the growing number of our activities that tend to degrade the natural sites required by birds in their migratory cycle,� the statement said.