Revamping the CHM Steering Committee, reaching out to Stakeholders and follow-up training for Ghanaian CHM Collaborators

Summary

The Ghana Biodiversity Clearing House Mechanism (CHM) has over the years seen an improvement in information placed on the website. The site has however, not been as active as the managers of the site would want it to be. It is in this quest that the NBA has decided to develop a proposal to help revamp the Clearing House Mechanism website, review the composition of the National Biodiversity Committee and other Stakeholders and to conduct follow-up training for Ghanaian Clearing House Mechanism collaborators. The project will among other things seek to bring Ghana’s CHM website up-to-date, functional and officially recognized by the Government and people of Ghana. Also the project will help raise public awareness on the existence of the CHM and increase demand for biodiversity related information in Ghana. These will in turn lead to high visitor traffic on the website and help deepen knowledge on biodiversity issues.

Currently, most of the visitors to Ghana’s CHM website are those who have been trained as contributors, as well as a few people from the scientific community who require information for research. There seems to be an erroneous perception in Ghana that biodiversity is for only science-oriented people. This has made a large number of people indifferent to issues of biodiversity including those in policy . The project will also be used to sensitize and lobby policy makers to appreciate and incorporate biodiversity and natural capital into development planning in Ghana.

The project is proposed to be undertaken from June 2017. It is envisaged that by 31^st December, 2017, the part of the project dealing with the National Biodiversity committee and policy makers and follow up training of CHM collaborators will have been completed. This will ultimately reflect in an increased traffic on the CHM website.

Objectives

The proposal seeks to bring Ghana’s CHM website up-to-date, functional and officially recognized by the Government and people of Ghana. Specifically, the study is intended:

1. To review the current composition and activities of the National Biodiversity Committee;
2. To assess their logistics and resource requirements
3. To assess public and private support for the activities of the National Biodiversity Committees
4. To assess the legal and institutional basis for their existence
5. To sensitize policy makers and other stakeholders on biodiversity issues in the development agenda of Ghana
6. To ensure capacity building of CHM collaborators by the Focal Point web manager on a continual basis.
7. To create a five member management committee to help manage the CHM website.