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Restoring Fosu Lagoon in Cape Coast

A project of the Bonn – Cape Coast partnership

The city of Bonn and the city of Cape Coast (capital of Ghana’s Central Region) have been involved in a close partnership with each other ever since a resolution was adopted by the City Council in 2008. In that same year the Bonn-Cape Coast partnership association was founded. This organisation promotes exchange at the level of civil society, and supports the partnership through activities in both cities.

Buildings and a tropical lagoon seen from the air — Fosu Lagoon seen from the air. Photo: City of Bonn, Verena Schwarte

In late 2011, Bonn became the first German municipality to receive approval to implement a cooperation project as part of the Service Agency's Programme to Support Municipal Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Projects (FKKP). This was the project to restore Fosu Lagoon in Cape Coast. For the inhabitants of Cape Coast the lagoon is of major environmental, economic, cultural and religious significance. As well as providing local fishermen with their livelihoods, it is also a habitat for rare plants and animals. In addition to being of major importance for the local climate, it also provides a recreational space for the local population.

Many of the problems faced by the lagoon when the project was launched are attributable to climate change. These include frequent torrential rainfall, a drop in water level caused by increased evaporation and a rise in temperature of the surface water. In recent years these events caused massive damage to the sensitive ecosystem around the lagoon. This was compounded by anthropogenic problems such as the deposition of waste, the introduction of waste water and the destruction of fauna and flora in the shore areas. The project set out to preserve the freshwater lagoon as a source of livelihoods for local fishermen as well as a habit for rare plants and animals, and to manage it on a sustainable and environmentally sound basis.

In 2012 the two sides began implementing the four-year project step by step. A project management team was formed on the ground comprising members of the city administration, the city council and representatives of traditional religious communities. The official opening of the partner cities' climate change adaptation project coincided with Mayor Jürgen Nimptsch’s visit to Cape Coast in April 2012.

Restoring Fosu Lagoon

Waste container with markings. Photo: City of Bonn, Verena Schwarte

When the project was launched, two studies were prepared in order to obtain more detailed knowledge of the ecological status of the lagoon and the socio-economic factors that were influencing it. A participatory planning procedure enabled the lagoon riparians and other stakeholders to articulate their interests, and make sure that these were taken into account in the further planning of project activities.

One important part of the project involved solid waste management measures. In some cases, for instance, domestic waste is disposed of in the waste water ditches that run past settlements. In the second year of the project (2013), seven key inlets were therefore identified through which large quantities of refuse were finding their way into the lagoon. To reduce the introduction of solid waste, and especially plastic, several construction measures were implemented to install large siphon-type grids in the water channels. Furthermore, several large waste dumps were removed from along the shores. At the institutions based in the lagoon watershed (several schools and one hospital), waste containers were installed at central locations in order to allow waste to be collected and disposed of on a regular basis.

As mango and tree stands along the shores had dwindled severely in recent years, in 2013 – under the auspices of the Department of Parks and Gardens – a tree nursery was set up with seedlings to be planted in afforestation measures. During the first year 3,000 seedlings were cultivated, 1,200 of which were planted close to the shores. Further planting measures followed in the years thereafter. Training courses were held at which members of the local population were shown how to set up and manage tree nurseries, so that citizens can assume responsibility for taking care of the seedlings and the newly planted areas. Several clean-up activities were held around the lagoon with schoolchildren.

During project implementation, members of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly – supported by the Survey and Mapping Commission – also drew up a land-use plan for the region around the lagoon. At the same time bylaws were developed that will enable the local authority to sanction environmental offences. These bylaws were presented to council members and the citizens of Cape Coast at various events. They were subsequently published in the legal gazette, which means they are now in force and can be applied.

Expert exchange between the two municipalities was continuously maintained throughout project implementation. Here the focus was on themes such as restoration, environmental education, integrated solid waste management and solid waste education.

Environmental education and media work

Group picture with school children and volunteers — School students at the Biodiversity Centre. Photo: City of Bonn, Verena Schwarte

As the project advanced further, it became increasingly evident that the behaviour of the riparian population will play a crucial role in the success of the measures, and in improving water and environmental quality around the lagoon. The activities in the fields of environmental education, awareness raising, and hygiene and health education were therefore expanded.

In cooperation with various NGOs, environmental education measures were conducted in schools, supported by media work involving TV and radio broadcasts. The establishment of a Biodiversity Centre right at the lagoon also created a central location for environmental education and learning. The Biodiversity Centre is being run by the Ghana Heritage and Conservation Trust, with which Cape Coast signed a corresponding agreement in November 2015. In 2016 the work of the Biodiversity Centre was supported by a three-month ASA assignment of two students from Bonn.

When the construction work for the new Biodiversity Centre was accepted in November 2015 the Mayor of Cape Coast, Priscilla Arhin, summed things up as follows: ‘Lots of things are happening here. We'd like young people to learn about them. The world is changing, and we need to change too, above all in how we deal with waste and hygiene.’