Accra Jan. 9, GNA - The Water Resources Commission would launch an interactive website for Ecosystems Management in Africa to help in the preservation of some of the country's fast depleting freshwater biodiversity.

The launch, which is to take place on Thursday, January 11, at the Centre for African Wetland (CAW), Legon, would provide a mechanism for the exchange of information among team members to ensure long distance collaboration as well as provide the platform for hosting interactive group discussions.

In a release signed by Mrs Adwoa Munkua Dako, Public Relations Officer of Water Resources Commission, the three-year project known as "Toolkit for the Sustainable Management of Ghana's Riverine Biodiversity" was aimed at adopting the "Ecosystem Approach" for managing natural resources within West Africa

The Project is being supported by the Darwin Initiative, a grant programme funded by UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which aims to promote biodiversity, conservation and sustainable use of resources.

It said the website would ultimately provide access to the interactive Toolkit, which was currently being prepared for use by managers and other stakeholders as part of the Project. The development of the website was the outcome of an international project between Ghana and the United Kingdom.

According to Professor Edward Maltby, the Project Leader, "the Ecosystems Approach" provides a means of achieving the sustainable development objectives of the Convention on Biodiversity". He said the real challenge was how to put the approach into practice, adding; "our Toolkit will represent a major contribution by which this can be achieved".

Professor Chris Gordon, Project Coordinator of the Ghana Team, noted that the Project was the first attempt to address holistically the priority of taxonomic capacity building; assess the status of aquatic biodiversity; the development of practical management tools for rivers and increased engagement of stakeholders in decision-making in one project. 9 Jan 07