Atewa Forest, Ghana, and Nature-Based Solutions for critical public goods (A Rocha Ghana)
Channel: Nature Positive 
Date: 14/12/2022

Prospects for State Positive Financing for Nature-Based Solutions to provide critical public goods: The Case of the Atewa Forest Reserve in Ghana 

Atewa Forest – an upland forest critical for biodiversity and ecosystem services – is threatened by illegal mining, logging and farming, and now the government’s plans to mine bauxite on its mountaintops. There are many options for ensuring financial and community benefits without causing irreversible damage. This can be achieved through state-financed green development projects such as ecotourism, sustainable harvesting of NTFPs and botanicals, agroforestry with tree crops around the forest, emissions reductions projects, and others. This session will present the case of Atewa Forest and promote participant discussion of opportunities, ideas, and innovations for green finance and sustainable development pathways in highly biodiverse forests.  

Speakers

Dr Seth Appiah-Kubi: National Director of A Rocha Ghana. Seth holds a PhD in Finance and is a Chartered Management Accountant, a member of Chartered Institute of Management Accountant (CIMA), UK and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA), Ghana. He also holds MBA in International Business from University of Applied Sciences, Furtwagen, Germany. Though Seth’s background is in finance, he has a strong passion for conservation and the security of natural resources for communities that depend on them. He has been involved in conservation for the past ten years and has been a key part in formulating the conservation models used by A Rocha Ghana, involving community-based conservation, conservation education and conservation research. He has served on both national and international conservation committees, platforms and forums dealing in various conservation protocols.