Winneba (C/R), Aug. 8, GNA - A three-day National Workshop on Management of Coastal and Wetlands Resources opened at the Winneba Sports College on Monday.

It is being organised by the Resource And Environmental Development Organisation (REDO) and sponsored by the United Nation Development Programme and United Nations Office for Project Service (UNOPS).

More than 60 participants made up of officials from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ministry of Environment and Science, assembly members, chiefs, fishmongers and opinion leaders from coastal communities from Denu to Half Assini are attending the workshop. Two officials from the UNDP office in Younde, Cameroon are also attending the workshop, which is under the theme: "Creating awareness in coastal communities on values of marine resources".

Opening the workshop, the District Chief Executive for Awutu-Effutu-Senya, Mr Solomon Aban-Quaye called for serious attention on the Wetland management (Ramsar Sites) of the coastal belt in Ghana. He expressed the hope that participants would take the workshop seriously so that they could go back to their various coastal communities as worthy ambassadors assisting their people to have better relationship with the coastal and wetland resources. With proper care, these areas would remain sources of livelihood for the local fishermen and feeding grounds for both resident and migratory water birds, he said.

The DCE said the time had come "for us to help maintain the ecological integrity of these areas for the benefit of present and future generations".

Giving an overview of the workshop, Mr Ayaa Kojo Armah, Head of the Oceanography Department (things along the coast) of the University of Ghana, Legon, who is chairman for the workshop urged coastal residents not to deplete their surroundings.

The chief of Sankore, Nana Kofi Tetteh and Nkosuohene of Nsuekyire near Winneba told the participants that the protection of Mangrove trees in their communities had helped in increasing water bodies and increasing fish stocks.