Biodiversity conservation and livelihood strengthening in Mole National Park

Mole National Park, located in north-western Ghana, is home to savanna ecosystems hosting rich wildlife, comprising 93 mammal species (a population of 800 elephants, antelopes, buffaloes, baboons), 400 bird species, 5 endemic butterfly species, and 8 endemic plant species (Gongronema obscurum, Raphionacme vignei and Rhinopterys angustifolia).

The park is threatened by bushfires, poaching and resource overexploitation by populations living on its periphery, who are increasingly encroaching into it, while the park itself lacks sufficient management resources. These pressures are exacerbated by a growing influx of herders from the North, who come to graze their livestock, devastating fragile vegetation areas around the Park and sometimes creating ethnic conflicts with local populations.

The project is led by NORTHCODE, a major coalition of Ghanaian NGOs, which already has several projects to its credit in the fields of resource management and reforestation.

Its objective is to develop beekeeping to quickly generate income for local populations, restore degraded areas with local tree species of medicinal value (currently overexploited), and draw up resource management plans for each community involved, which will be harmonised into an Integrated Biodiversity Conservation and Management Plan approved by the authorities.

Honey sales on the market can benefit from the Savanna Pure Honey Marketing Company and the Aseda Raw Honey Company, two private companies based in Damongo, and the beekeeping enterprises created can be registered as members of the Northern Ghana Honey/Beeswax Value Chain Network (HBVCN) — funded by DANIDA and SNV.

Of the 72 existing communities around the park (110,000 people), the project will focus on 20 communities (75,500 inhabitants) across an area of 6,000 ha. It will be based 15 minutes by car from Damongo, the District capital, and 2 hours from NORTHCODE’s headquarters in Tamale.