Director for Institute for the environment and sanitation studies, at the University of Ghana and the advisor to the sustainable Ocean Plan (SOP) working group, Professor Kwesi Appeaning Addo says the SOP, if implemented successfully, will ensure that there can be a holistic way in managing the marine environment and the resources that are within the environment.
He states that it can protect critical marine ecosystem, charter course for economic and social development, provide regulatory and investment certainty and reduce the risk conflict.
Speaking at a SOP workshop with key stakeholders in Central Region comprising traditional authorities, media, security agencies, academia among others as part of the series of subnational consultations on how to ensure that the SOP is implemented through a participatory, transparent, equitable and accountable process that ensures that all relevant interests are heard and addressed at an early stage, he said the SOP is going to be a unifying umbrella for ocean related governance.
Background
In December 2020, the High-Level panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel) launched its Transformations for a Sustainable Ocean Economy – a vision for protection, production and prosperity of delegation document.
The Members of the Ocean Panel committed to sustainably manage 100% of the Ocean area under their national jurisdiction, guided by a sustainable Ocean Plans, 2025, and urged all coastal and ocean states to join this commitment so that by 2030 all areas under national jurisdiction are completely sustainably managed.
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As a member of the Ocean Panel, Ghana is committed to developing a sustainable Ocean Plan (SOP) by 2025.
Benefits
According to Prof. Appeaning Addo, the SOP is seeking to achieve a regulatory framework, strategic investment in emerging sectors, marine special planning.
He said it will deliver nature’s contributions to people, establish an implementation of marine protected areas, integrated coastal management and again economic and positive biodiversity conservation, climate change, mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable fish stocks.
“So, these are some of the key things that SOP is seeking to achieve for us. So based on that, it is going to help us economically. So, we’re going to have economic benefit, social benefit and also have environmental benefit”, he indicated.
He said once it is used, it is going to unify all the stakeholders and come up with a coordinating system so that we can be able to manage not in silos but holistically.
Plan
The Director for the Sustainable Ocean Plan, Mr. Kofi Agbogah indicated that the plan will further help to mitigate the many harms done to the ocean and the marine areas, especially by fishers, through mining, and the disposal of plastics into the sea.
“We are not handling ocean the way it should because it seems that we’ve forgotten the fact that there are so many benefits from the ocean, but we have turned it into a waste bin where you see plastics on the ocean, fishermen are catching more plastic, they are catching fish, pollution from mining and the like”, he said.
He indicated that plans are in place to engage all stakeholders at the association level, to educate their leaders better in order for them to go back to the kiths and kins and explain what the ocean economy is all about.
“I’m saying this because it is not only about fish, but there are other resources in the ocean and we have to equitably benefit from the ocean’s resources”, he stated.
Source: ERIC SEKYI/ATLFMNEWS
