10 Ghanaian institutions receive GH¢7m Canadian grant to train scholars, restore degraded environments

Ten Ghanaian public and private sector institutions are accessing a GH¢7 million foreign grant to strengthen technical expertise to tackle environmental degradation and empower women along the forest value chain.

The five-year partnership with Lakehead University in Canada will involve training 36 Ghanaians in wood science and technology, remote sensing and geomatics, ecological remediation, and forestry.

The goal is to open more local avenues for promoting sustainable natural resource management.

The public universities benefiting from the partnership include the University of Ghana, KNUST, Cape Coast University, UDS, the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), and the CSIR College of Science and Technology.

Other beneficiary institutions are the Forestry Commission, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s FORIG, Samartex Timber and Plywood Company, and the Charcoal Chamber of Commerce – Ghana.

The funding regime, which is part of the Global Affairs Canada Bachelor of Computer Science and Digital Innovation (BCDI) project, will enable 26 countries across Africa to access an $80 million program.

He is optimistic Ghana could still benefit more from the Canadian government.

“The Global Affairs Canada BCDI project is an eight-year program that has $80 million in funding across all of the different projects, and there are 26 nations in Africa that are part of this program.

I'm bringing about GH¢7m to Ghana on this one grant. This is not the only one we're going to get, trust me”. Professor Matthew Leitch of the Faculty of Natural Resources Management at Lakehead University revealed.

Professor Matthew Leitch of the Faculty of Natural Resources Management at Lakehead University detailed the initiative during a media engagement in Kumasi. He says the new era highlights a relationship dating back to 1992 with the Canadian Economic Development Agency.

“The idea is to train lots of people and hopefully uh improve the lives of all Ghanaians and the environment here. We have seen some of the main areas of the UN strategies, and, after initial meetings, areas they found we could benefit from.

"So things like the illegal mining, using some of our remote sensing technologies combined with forestry and wood science or more forestry as far as replanting and so reclamation, remediation and afforestation.”

According to him, the partnership involves leveraging advanced Canadian technologies to address several environmental challenges faced by Ghana, including illegal mining and deforestation.

“Future remote sensing and geomatics training programs will be structured around specific needs and issues in Ghana, with an upcoming one-month training session planned for approximately eight participants from various institutions.

"This initiative forms part of broader efforts that include senior-level executives to ensure knowledge is applied effectively from the top down.”

The partnership provides full scholarships to three Master’s students at Lakehead University and sponsorship for 23 early to mid-career officers through tailored certificate programs

Professor Mrs Mercy Afua Adutwumwaa Derkyi is the Former Dean of the School of Natural Resources at the University of Energy and Natural Resources(UENR).

“You know, this program is beneficial in terms of our capacity building. Building our capacity in knowledge, in skills, and also networking and strengthening our partnership,” she told the media.

For the Forestry Commission, the partnership comes at a time when forest reserves and resources are under attack from illegal activities.

Authorities are hopeful that the introduction of modern approaches, such as remote sensing and mapping, to combat illegalities will yield positive results, as some of the Commission’s staff undergo training in Canada.

Valerie Fumey Nassah is the Director of Operations Plantations at the Forestry Commission.

“The project is also very useful for us because we are at a critical time in the history of this country when all our forest reserves, all our forest reserves and forest resources in general are under attack from illegal activities.

"We have illegal mining, we have illegal farming, we have people putting up settlements in our forest reserves, which are only 15% of the entire country.

So if we are able to monitor in real time, we will be able to ensure that we reduce the degradation and deforestation of our reserves.”

Madam Nassah is elated by the program's uniqueness.

“One unique thing about this BCDI 2030 project is that for all the participants in the training, 51% will have to be women. And it is not normal. It does not always happen like that, so we are very happy.

"It's not only about gender, but ensuring that the small percentage of females who are in the forestry sector get the opportunity to upgrade their skills, get knowledge, and expertise to be able to manage our resources just like our male counterparts are doing.”

A private timber company, Samatex, wants to use the opportunity presented by the partnership to conduct further studies on the behavior of lesser-known timber species and develop them into viable sought-after.

Justice Eshun, the head of the Forestry Department at Samartex, says the company will take advantage of the partnership to research tree species

“As a company, we are always looking to develop the lesser-used species. I believe we don't know much about “Esa”; we don't know much about “Esiaa”, and we don't even use it much.

"So what we are doing as a company with this project is that they are advanced. We are looking at lesser-used species. When we say "lesser-used species," we mean species that are not common on the market and that people are not using.

"What we are looking at now is that we are doing research with Lakehead University, and we are trying to see how trees behave differently across landscapes. We are saying this because very soon the trees that we know, the trees that we know so much, the Mahoganies and when you go there, you're not going to find them anymore.”

At least 51 per cent of all scholarship recipients under the BCDI 2030 partnership are women, as it seeks to develop those who can serve as change agents.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.