Ghana’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister, Mrs. Mavis Hawa Koomson, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring the sustainable and efficient use of the country’s marine resources through the implementation of the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Project.
Speaking at the project’s inception workshop in Accra, she emphasized that the MSP will allocate marine spaces for various activities such as fishing, tourism, and conservation to mitigate environmental degradation and overexploitation, key challenges facing Ghana’s marine ecosystems.
The MSP initiative, officially launched at a regional workshop in Togo in August 2024, aims to streamline activities in the marine sector, ensuring harmony among different stakeholders and sectors that depend on coastal resources. It builds on previous efforts under the Mami Wata Project and is a key element in the broader strategy to safeguard marine resources for future generations.
Mrs. Koomson acknowledged that Ghana’s marine sector faces severe challenges, including climate change impacts, overcapacity, and conflicts between sectors over resource use. She noted that the MSP Project would foster more sustainable practices and efficient management of marine environments, with a particular focus on addressing these issues.
Ghana has already implemented a spatial development framework within the Western Region’s 200-nautical-mile zone, an initiative that may be extended to the entire coastline.
The Mami Wata Project, launched in 2018 under the Abidjan Convention, laid the foundation for the MSP Project by introducing tools such as a status report, ecosystem identification, and frameworks to further develop sustainable ocean management. This project brought together relevant government bodies and stakeholders from West, Central, and South Africa to ensure the protection of marine ecosystems.
Mr. Antoine Gaston Djihinto, Secretary General of the West Central Gulf of Guinea Fisheries Commission (FCWC), stressed the importance of regional cooperation, urging member states to fulfill commitments under global conventions like the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He highlighted the need for countries to adopt ecosystem service valuation and nature-based solutions as part of their environmental protection efforts.
With a focus on building capacity and implementing State of Marine Environment Assessments (SoME), the MSP Project is expected to not only strengthen national policies but also align with broader sub-regional and international frameworks, making it a key instrument for sustainable ocean governance in the Gulf of Guinea.
