PROJECT THEME
Establishing a structure:-“Surveillance View Centre”, for ensuring the
conservation of Elephants in 4 National Park (Mole, Digya, Kakum National park and Ankasa Conservation Area) in Ghana.
Through the use of our “Improved Technological Developmental Strategy”
(ITDS) in fighting the decline of this Magnificent Animals from Extinction.
- Digya National Park - A park on the western bank of the Volta Lake that includes large swathes of inland estuary. It is located approximately 100 km to the east ofTechiman.
- Kakum National Park - A coastal rainforest in the central region with abundant plant and animal life. Park facilities include access to the upper rainforest canopy. Located 30 km north of Cape Coast.
Mole National Park - A former game reserve in the isolated northern region of Ghana that contains an abundant variety of wildlife. It is located 100 km to the west of TAMALE
- The Ankasa Conversation Area is an area in southwestern Ghana, in Ghana's Western Region, about 365 kilometers west of Accra near the border with Côte d'Ivoire. It incorporates the Nini Suhien National Park and the Ankasa Resource Reserve
PROJECT DURATION
3 Years Duration
From JANUARY 2015 to DECEMBER 2019
Amount needed from your Organisation:-$2,000,000.00 only
WHAT IS IDTS ALL ABOUT?
As
we’ve earlier said IDTS is also known as
Improved Technological Developmental
Strategy(IDTS). The Project is all
about the “CONSERVATION OF
ELEPHANTS” in its habitats. Through the use of a highly Improved
Technological Surveillance System put in place at some major part of the National Park. As a Non Governmental Organization with the partnership with the wildlife
Division(Government arm at Ghana) given the responsibility of Managing
wildlife Conservation in Ghana.
Strategy here is the planned
activities or Objectives in ensuring the proper and successful conservation of this Elephants in their habitats.
Therefore
Project-Partnership Strategy means
the Working Partnership agreement relationship
between this NGO with the wildlife Division of Ghana, in ensuring the conservation of
Elephants in their habitats and ensuring
that this Magnificent
Animals population is not
reduced.
What is the Role of the wildlife Division in Ghana?
The Role of
the Wildlife Division
The Wildlife Division (WD) is the principal government
agency responsible for elephant management. For many years it was known as the
Game & Wildlife Department until it changed its name in 1994 to the
Wildlife Department. In 1999 it became the Wildlife Division within the
Forestry Commission. It is "charged with establishing and managing wildlife
protected areas and conserving indigenous wildlife inside and outside such
protected areas, controlling its utilization and regulating hunting". The
Wildlife Division is responsible for the management of national parks, resource
reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, and one strict nature reserve. About two thirds
of the total elephant range shown in Table 1
lie outside protected areas managed by the Wildlife Division. Outside
such protected areas the Surveillance View Centres function is to encourage the
conservation and sustainable use of wildlife. Forest reserves, where many
elephants are found, are managed by the Forest Services Division which is also
part of the Forestry Commission.
Elephant
populations have declined throughout West Africa as a consequence of hunting
and habitat loss and are now found in small and isolated habitat fragments. These low estimates are very worrying,
because the smaller a population the greater the risk that it will decline to
extinction.
African Development and Planning Centre (a Non
Government Organization that is dedicated to the Conservation of this
Magnificent Animals), Thus we have to prepared this Project strategy to ensure
a systematic and carefully planned approach to elephant conservation and
management over the next decade. The goal of this strategy is to ensure the
conservation of viable elephant populations and their habitats in Ghana
especially at the stipulated range area (MOLE and DIGYA NATIONAL PARK) for the
Project Strategy.
Ghana holds
eleven elephant populations. Four are found in the northern savannas: the Red
Volta
Valley,
Sissili & Tumu, Nandom and Mole National Park. Of these Mole is the
largest. There is a small population of elephants in Digya National Park in the
transitional vegetation zone and an isolated group in the Chichibon Corridor.
The southwestern forests harbor five populations: Goaso Complex, Bia
Conservation Area, Dadieso, Kakum Conservation Area and Ankasa Conservation
Area. Only the Mole, Bia and Kakum populations have been counted. There is a
dearth of information on habitat conditions, elephant numbers, trends and
demography. Because some are small populations, there is a risk that they may
not be viable.
Environmental
issues are high on the Ghana national agenda and from our observation as a
Non-Governmental Organization is that the government is committed to ensuring
the conservation of wildlife resources that form part of Ghana's rich cultural
heritage.
In order to achieve this goal, we’ve decided
(as an NGO with our SURVEILLANCE VIEW CENTRE) to
Partner with the Government of Ghana to make the ”Eight Objectives” set-up by
the Government to be a reality.
The following
are the Eight Objective set-up by the Government:-
(I) Wildlife legislation must be improved,
adopted and implemented to provide the basis for effective law enforcement and community involvement
in wildlife management;
(2) Law
enforcement must be improved with respect to the detection, apprehension and
conviction of offenders, and there must be improved reporting of poaching and
smuggling incidents at the appropriate national, sub-regional and international
levels;
(3) Accurate
and up-to-date information on population and habitat variables for all elephant
populations is to be collected and used for management and decision-making;
(4) The rate
of habitat loss and incidence of human-elephant conflict will be reduced in
each elephant range;
(5) The
capacity of stakeholders will be improved;
(6) Awareness
of elephant conservation issues must be improved at all levels;
(7)
International agreements will be developed for managing cross-border elephant
populations;
(8) Functioning structures and mechanisms will
be established to ensure the of this strategy.
THE NEED FOR THE
“SURVEILLANCE VIEW CENTRE” & THE IMPROVED TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE
CONSERVATION OF ELEPHANTS IN THEIR HABITATS:
Elephants have
always played an important role in Ghanaian culture and Ghana has long been at
the fore-front of elephant conservation. For example, it was the Government of
Ghana that first proposed that the African elephant should be listed on a CITES
appendix. Ghana was one of the West African range states that wrote a
sub-regional strategy for elephant conservation in 1999.
At one time
elephants were found throughout the country but, as elsewhere on the continent,
elephant
Habitats
contracted during the twentieth century. Today elephants are still found in both
the savanna and forest zones of Ghana but the reduction of elephant range and
the decline in elephant numbers has
Become a
matter of concern to government and non-government agencies (like ours) as
well. At the same time, the problem of crop-raiding by elephants seems to be
increasing, making it difficult to engage rural communities in elephant
conservation.
Hence the need
for this Technological Development Initiative, formulated by this NGO (AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING CENTRE).
This project
strategy for the conservation of elephants will define the problems, set
objectives and create a framework for planning that will ensure that the most
urgent issues are tackled first. Our Partnership with the Government of Ghana
will ensure that there is a consensus on the methods for tackling the
management and conservation of this species that so often generates heated
controversy. It will ensure a systematic and planned approach for the efficient
deployment of scarce resources. Donors and Funders like you will be encouraged
to help with the conservation efforts when you see that, this proposals form
part of a coherent framework.
WHAT IS THE “SURVEILLANCE CENTRE” & THE NEW "IMPROVED
TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY"ALL ABOUT IN THIS PROJECT?
First and
foremost Project-Partnership
Strategy means the
Working Partnership agreement
relationship between our NGO and the
wildlife Division of Ghana, in
ensuring the conservation of Elephants in their habitats and ensuring that this
Magnificent Animals
population is not reduced.
The SURVEILLANCE VIEW Centre will serve
the following purpose:
-as a television monitoring base
station,
-data collection center,
- Planning and implementation
center,
-capacity building &
development center etc.
We intend to use an improve an IP
surveillance camera in the monitoring of this Elephants at their various
habitats. This internet protocol (I.P) cameras will be powered by a 24 hours Electricity
that is generated by a Solar Energy System.
The solar
energy system will consist of
some solar panels converting
sunlight energy to electricity by the
efforts of some industrial inverter to
a back-up batteries housed on the base
home of a 50 to 60 feet tall mast, carrying over 8 to
10 surveillance (CCTV) cameras on
it’s top.
The numbers of mast needed in a
range will depends on the coverage Area of the Range. For example, Mole National Park which has the highest Areas
coverage Range in Ghana will need
over 5 to 10 mast compare to
Ankassa Conservation that may
likely need just 2 to
3 mast.
The television monitoring
department of the Surveillance View Centre will be having over 25 –LCD
Screen Television to watch, what is happening life in the
habitats of this Elephants.
The satellite base cameras
station (i.e. the mast) will be transmitting images from its camera via internet
Protocol Technology to the Television monitoring base station (i.e. the Surveillance View Centre)
Please take note
a long distance zooming CCTV camera
can be used to view an animal
from a distance of 25 kilometers to its normal
views points without any
slightest blurredness in the image.
We will also need a Mobile CCTV
camera station along with us in this project.
An example of what we intend to Installs
The Mobile Station will consist
of a Range-Rover (or a Desert Van) with a video recording camera on it. We can always go along with this Mobile
Camera Station, whenever we are going for a field work in the forest or a
visit to see this Elephants in their various habitats.
An example of the Mobile CCTV
VAN
And then we will also need to installed
boreholes on some of the
Ranges (especially at the Savanna Zones) to give artificial
streams / lakes of water for
the Elephant especially in the time of
Dry season, where they tend
to migrate to a
more vegetative area and water for survival.
WHY CONSERVE
ELEPHANTS IN GHANA?
AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING CENTRE as a Non-Governmental Organization has placed
environmental issues high on their agenda. The National Environmental Action
Plan of 1988 defined a set of policy actions to ensure the environmental
sustainability of Ghana's development strategy and to ensure the country's
ecological viability.
The
conservation and development of wildlife and forestry resources are central
themes in the
Action plan
and are described in the National Forest and Wildlife Policy (Ministry of Lands
&
Intended
"to place Ghana firmly among those nations with an enlightened and
pragmatic approach to
The
sustainable use of their wildlife resources”.
It’s based on this that we are partnering with the Wildlife Division in
ensuring the Sustainable use of their Wildlife Policy Statements, is put into
Implementation.
The statement was based on the twin
convictions that:
1. Within
limits people in Ghana have the right to the resources needed for a reasonably
adequate standard of living and the right to derive economic, social, cultural
and other benefits from wild plant and animal species.
2. At the same
time people have the responsibility to ensure that their uses of wild species
are sustainable, i.e. without impairing their capacity for renewal and long
term viability for the benefits of posterity too.
These convictions are rooted in Ghanaian
tradition and culture and the Wildlife Policy Statement sets out to apply them
within the principles set out below:
1. Nation’s
ecological viability is rooted in the wise use of its natural resource base and
we have a duty to conserve Ghana's biological diversity for the benefit of
present and future generations.
2.
Protected areas contribute to the economic well being of the nation, they
maintain vital ecological
Life and The
sustaining processes, conserve diverse pools of genetic material, represent
options for future development and offer opportunities for cultural,
scientific, touristic and educational advancement.
3. Wildlife is
a unique natural resource offering various opportunities for sustainable rural
development and economic utilization. Its development and management should be
recognized in its own right as Traditional institutions and methods of resource
management have sustained people in the Past.
Sacred groves are of scientific and
cultural importance:
These
convictions and principles, which are rooted in Ghanaian culture and
traditions, provide the
Impetus for
conserving elephants and other species.
There are
further reasons for making a special effort to conserve elephants. Elephants,
as the planet's largest terrestrial mammal, excite wonder and awe. They play a
large role in Ghanaian culture, in chieftaincy, language, medicine, art and
craft. For example, many chiefs use the elephant as a symbol of their strength
and authority, while some cultural
companies have songs, that signify the importance of elephants.
Elephants have
a complex social system and feel emotions, such as grief, similar to humans.
Elephants are often considered a keystone species for they play an important
role in both savanna and forest ecosystems. For example, there is a link
between tsetse fly abundance and elephant density. Elephants disperse tree
seeds in Ghanaian forests and forests elsewhere in West Africa. The
conservation of elephants will therefore preserve the integrity and diversity
of our natural ecosystems. Habitats managed to preserve elephants will also
ensure the conservation of less charismatic plants and animals.
Elephants are
one of the species that may help to draw tourists to Ghana and therefore
contribute
towards the
development of the national tourist industry. In particular, they could become
locally important by attracting tourists to remote places that lack other
features of interest to tourists.
Mole is one of
the parks in Africa where one can go close to elephant without provocation.
Special
efforts must be made to protect elephants because they carry a commodity of
great value -ivory. They will always be at risk from an upsurge in the
international ivory trade integral and viable component of national land use
policy.
The Surveillance View Centre Strategy for the
Conservation of Elephants in the 4-stipulated Ranges in Ghana by JANUARY 2016 to the end of DECEMBER 2019:-
1: Establish a
Surveillance Technology Development monitoring system in all the 4 elephant ranges by 2016 or
before the end of 2019 'using the internet protocol CCTV Satellite Devices.
We will need
over 25 Surveillance MAST in all the 11 Elephants Ranges in Ghana
.
2: Equiped teams
with the needed Mobile Camera base station Range Rover to react quickly to
problem animal incidents so as to increase efficacy of elephant deterrence by January 2016 to December 2019.
3: Evaluate
feasibility of electric fencing against elephants before the end of December 2019
4: Develop
self-defense programmed against elephants for farmers before the end of 2019.
5: Organize a
buy-out option before the end of 2019 for situations where all mitigating measures fail to reduce human elephant
conflict and owner is willing to sell.
6: Establish
systems for mitigating human-elephant conflict within all elephant ranges by
2016 to 2019.
Functioning structures and mechanisms
established to ensure the implementation of this strategy.
The emphasis
of this strategy must be on action. A Government co-coordinator is needed
within the Wildlife Division to launch it and to ensure that the different Governmental
and non-governmental agencies like African Development & Planning
Centre(ADPC), work together in PARTNERSHIP without duplication. We must facilitate
the process of fund-raising. The implementation of the strategy and the
activities of the co-coordinator will be overseen by the Surveillance View Centre of
ADPC that will function as the structures and mechanisms that will be
established to ensure the implementation of this strategy.
STRUCTURAL IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
According to the project eight
set-up objective of the
wildlife division “functioning structure and Mechanisms
will be established to ensure
the implementation of this strategy”.
African Development & Planning Centre is planning to
construct a structural edifice,
that will represent the “The Functioning Structure” which is to be called “The Surveillance View Centre” which is suppose to be the first
online in the planning strategy to ensure
the implementation of this Project Partnership
Strategy for the conservation of
this Elephant in all the 4 Ranges in
Ghana.
The Surveillance View centre will serve
as a television monitoring base station, data collection centre, planning and
implementation centre, capacity building & development centre etc.
We intend to use an improve
surveillance camera in the monitoring of this Elephants at their various
habitats. This internet protocol (I.P) cameras will be powered by a 24 hours Electricity
that is generated by a solar Energy
system.
The solar
energy system will consist of
some solar panels converting
sunlight energy to electricity by the
efforts of some industrial inverter to a
back-up batteries housed on the base home of a 50 to 60
feet tall mast, carrying over 8
to 10 surveillance (CCTV) cameras on it’s
top.
The numbers of mast needed in a
range will depends on the coverage Area
of the Range. For example, Mole
National Park which has the highest
Areas coverage Range in Ghana will need
over 5 to 10 mast compare to
Ankassa Conservation that may likely
need just 2 to 3
mast.
The television monitoring
department of the Surveillance View centre will be having over 25 –LCD
Screen Television to watch, what is happening life in the
habitats of this Elephants.
The satellite base cameras station
(i.e the mast) will be transmitting images from it’s camera via internet
Protocol Technology to the Television
monitoring base station (i.e the Surveillance View Centre)
The Advantages of this Surveillance Technology
-
It helps to monitor the movement of this
Elephants in their protected Range Area.
-
It helps to
quickly pick the exact images of poachers,hunting for this Elephants.
-
It helps to direct the Range Guards and Range
Staffs on the exact locations of this Elephants at their various Ranges.
-
It also helps to know the population of the
Elephants available at a specific spots and locations in the Range.
I
strongly believe with this
Technology put in place, that the challenges facing
us in curbing the decline of this Magnificent Animals from extinction will be
totally reduced to
minimal percent. Most especially when it entails a day to day monitoring
or surveillance guard on this elephants.
And the
need to install Infrasonic
vocalizations equipments along
with this cameras in detecting their movement and
positions in the forest.
Please take note
a long distance zooming CCTV camera
can be used to view an animal
from a distance of 25 kilometers to it’s normal
views points without any
slightest blurredness in the image.
We will also need a Mobile CCTV
camera station along with us in this project. The Mobile Station will consist
of a Range-Rover (or a Desert Van) with a video recording camera on it. We can always go along with this Mobile
Camera Station, whenever we are going for a field work in the forest or a visit
to see this Elephants in their
various habitats.
And then we will also need to installed
boreholes on some of the
Ranges to give artificial streams of water for the
Elephant especially in the time of
Harmattan season, where they tend
to migrate to a
more vegetative areaand water for
survival.
An example of what we intend to Installs.
BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
For the project to be
successful, we will need the sum of
$2,500,000.00 US Dollars for
the establishment of the necessary structures
and Mechanism( such as over
25 surveillance mast base station along
with Infrasonic Equipments in all the 4 Ranges) for the smooth running of the Project
to the desired goal and the duration of Ten Years
in Ghana.
However, we are only asking for the sum of $2,000,000.00 US Dollars to start-up the
foundational implementation of the project, first at the “Surveillance View Centre” and then towards
the 3 Major National Parks and Ankassa Conversation” which
is one of the least in the Ranges. Infact, Ankassa conservation is the best place to
start fighting against the extinction of this Magnificent Animals in
Ghana. (because of the few population
of Elephants in its Range).
Therefore, we are asking this
Great and generous Agency to donate this sum to us to start the
implementation of this project strategy.
The budget will be take five
phases:
-
The construction of the Surveillance View Centre.
-
The construction of the first satellite camera
base station(ie. the Mast with about 6 to 8 surveillance cameras on it’s top)
at Ankassa conservation.
-
The installation infrasonic vocalization equipments on the
mast to detect the movement and direction
of the Elephants in the Range.
-
The installation of boreholes in the Range.
-
The Administrative and Operational cost of the
project.
-
The installation of screen T.Vs in the
office of the monitoring department of Surveillance View Centre.
-
And finally,
the furnishing of the
office
The Surveillance View centre shall be a duplex of over 15
office rooms, sitting spaces for
visitors, space for the receptionist in front of the office
entrance, along with a hall
for meetings and capacity building,
and possibly a little warehouse
behind the office building.
The administrative and operational staffs of the Surveillance View centre for ADPC will be
the following:
-
The Executive Director of the
ADPC.
-
The administrative manager who
will be responsible for the day to day running of the Surveillance View centre and the up-keeping /caring of the
staffs.
-
The operational manager (who
will be responsible for data
collection, monitoring of the Elephants on
the TV Screens.
-
The
field/TV monitoring staffs.
-
The Drivers of
ADPC for the Surveillance View Center.
-
The securities
of ADPC for the Surveillance View Centre
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