Sakumo Ramsar Site

The Sakumo Ramsar Site also known as the Sakumo Lagoon is a wetland of international importance. It covers an area of 1,340 hectares (3,300 acres) and is situated along the coastal road between Accra and Tema in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It is about 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Tema. The lagoon has fish which is taken during the rainy seasons. During the dry season from August to March a larger part of the lagoon dries up. There is general cultivation of vegetables such as tomatoes,onion, spinach and also cassava on the wetlands around the lagoon. The area is encroached upon by cattle which graze in the dry season and land developers who build very close to the site which is a government properly and should not be used by any developer. There is a Biodiversity Conservation and Local Community Development Project to rehabilitate degraded areas and conserve the biodiversity within the Sakumo ramsar site.

Ramsar Site

Sakumo wetlands was proposed as a Ramsar site in 1987. In 1992 it was gazetted as a Ramsar site by which time about one third of the area originally proposed had been used by settlement development.

Lagoon

The size of the open lagoon varies from 100–350 hectares (250–860 acres) depending on the season. In the rainy season it expands and shrinks in the dry season. The lagoon is separated from the sea by a narrow sand-dune, on which the Accra-Tema road is built, and is connected to the sea by a small permanently open sluice, constructed to prevent flooding of the coastal road. Large portions of the lagoon dry up in the dry season, resulting in hyper-saline conditions.[1]

Pollution

This lagoon is polluted by the inflow of industrial effluent into it. Collins Tay and Charles Biney[2] have suggested that the pH value of the lagoon is 8.0-9.0(pH units). The Conductivity position of the lagoon shows the waters are saline (>5000μScm -1) The waters which flow into it are the Mamahuma and Gbagbla Ankonu feeder streams which are also polluted. High biological oxygen demands concentrations range from (11-58mgL-1).

Fishes in the lagoon

The lagoon has 1 km2 (0.39 sq mi) surface area and defined as semi closed because of its permanent but limited communication to the sea. Sixteen species or genera were found in the lagoon[3]

Four groups of fishes emerged:

Flood plain

The flood-plain is periodically inundated and the flooded areas are largely devoid of vegetation. There are also areas of freshwater marsh and coastal savanna grassland, the latter composed mainly of Sesuvium portulacastrum with various grass species associations. Land-use in the catchment includes rice, cassava and vegetable cultivation. The lagoon has been heavily overfished.[4]

Bird life

Experts have recorded Seventy species of waterbird at the site with estimated maximum numbers of 30,000 birds.[5] The common species are Egretta garzetta, E. gularis, Glareola pratincola, Charadrius hiaticula and Sterna hirundo. The breeding waterbirds include G. pratincola, Charadrius pecuarius and Sterna albifrons. The Black heron (Egretta ardesiaca) is considered sacred and protected by local taboos.

Marine turtle

Three species of marine turtle have been recorded nesting on the beach. These are:

Conservation issues

The area was designated in 1992 and by then part of the proposed area was taken up by settlement development, involving a number of housing estates. The area has one of the highest urban growth-rates within the coastal zone, and sewage and domestic waste from the catchment seriously threaten the lagoon. The spread of urbanization continues and if not stopped the entire catchment will be destroyed. The area has high educational and recreational value as one of the green areas left in the Accra-Tema metropolitan area. The lagoon is regarded as a fetish by the indigenous people of Tema New Town.

Rehabilitation of site

The Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission is the government agency responsible for the area. The Environmental Protection Agency and the United Nation Environment Programme initiated an afforestation project of planting trees in the wetland area using treated waste water as a way of reforesting and conserving the degraded areas. Others are Sakumo Ramsar Conservation and Resource Users Association and the Friends of Ramsar Sites. The surrounding communities such as Klagon, Sakumono and Nungua are protecting the site.[6]

Further reading

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ http://www.csir-water.com/pdf/industrial-research.pdf
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "Sakumo Lagoon". Content.ghananation.com. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
  5. ↑ "Birdlife Data Zone". Birdlife.org. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
  6. ↑ Environmental Protection Agency (2014). Biodiversity Conservation and Local Community Development through Tree Planting. 1st Quarter Report 2014

Coordinates: 5°38′35″N 0°01′59″W / 5.643°N 0.033°W / 5.643; -0.033

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