Four Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), have begun the mapping and legal documentation of landing beaches across the coastal regions of Ghana. As part of the three-year Sustainable Oceans Project, the NGOs - Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Friends of the Nation, Hen Mpoano and Central and Western Fishmongers Improvement Association (CEWEFIA)- are assisting in facilitating the process in 292 landing beaches across the Western, Central, Volta and Greater-Accra Regions. Justice Camillus Mensah, Project Manager of Hen Mpoano, disclosed this at a Regional Socialisation Workshop on Fish Landing Site Mapping and Documentation held in Accra on Thursday. He said the project was to help identify and safeguard the land tenure and ownership rights of fisher folks to the various landing beaches. This would protect them against threats from developers within the tourism and real estate industry thus sustaining their livelihoods as fisherman , fish mongers and processors who form a vital part of the ocean economy. 'We are having a lot of competition from other uses. For example, we have a lot of hospitality industries like hotels springing up along the coast. We have others like industrial infrastructure also springing up every now and then, so it is very important that, at this point, looking at the fisheries sustainability, we will also look at our landing sites and the livelihood support of the people who are involved, that is, the fisher folks,' he said Mr. Mensah, in a presentation, stated how the project had already completed the mapping of 118 landing sites along the coast of some fishing communities within the Central Region, Ada in the Greater-Accra Region and Tsatsukope in the Volta Region. Ghana is rapidly losing its beaches due to intense competition for coastal land use, which is creating conflicts between fishing communities and some tourism industry players like hoteliers and real estate developers. Mr Mensah said that key stak eholders like the Lands Commission and the communities were actively involved in the mapping and documentation process. 'We are working with the communities to establish all the protocols for this whole process so right from the beginning; it is going to be participatory; the indenture and the lease agreement everything must stem from the community. It is going to be driven by the community. We are only going to support the entire process,' he said. Osei-Akoto Nyantakyi, the Programmes Manager for EJF, said the programme was designed to also train 5000 artisanal fishers to build their capacities in fisheries management across four coastal regions. He also mentioned initiatives to enhance the abilities of fifty experts in security and law to better manage and uphold regulations related to the fishing sector. 'On this project, we seek to influence national policy implementation and enforcement of fisheries laws… we will build the capacities of our officers in the navy, with our marine police. Also, those i n the legal areas, especially judges and prosecutors, often do not converse with the issues. We will look at supporting issues to be able to give us good outcomes,' he stated Mr Nyantakyi said the outcome of the mapping and documentation initiative would address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which deal with hunger, climate change, equality, sustainable jobs, among others. 'The Sustainable Oceans Project addresses a number of SDGS. Number one to reduce poverty, SDG two which is to reduce hunger, SDG three which is to ensure everybody is in good health,' he said. He added that the project would improve the income resilience of fishing communities, mitigate climate and human-induced threats, and enhance opportunities for value addition along fisheries supply chains and enterprise development. Kofi Amartey, a clam collector who participated in the workshop said the project was important because it secured the interest of fishers like him and promoted peace between the fishing communities and coasta l developers. 'When this project is implemented well, it will help all of us. We are not fighting anybody, they should also understand that we are an essential part of the community so when the coastal lands are given out for different developments, they must allocate a place for the fishermen to land whenever they come from their expeditions,' he said. Source: Ghana News Agency