The Regional Knowledge Sharing Workshop of the GEF/FAO funded Transboundary Project between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire was held in Accra from 12 to 13 April, 2018.

The two-day workshop brought together over 60 participants from 3 African nations to share the results, experiences and lessons learnt in the course of project implementation with project immediate and wider stakeholders while also mapping out strategies for scaling up key best practices and lessons learned from the project. The event was organized by the FAO-RAF Secretariat and Conservation Alliance International (CA) also provided assistance in its organization.

An opening ceremony was held to kick of the Workshop, with guest addresses by the FAO Representative in Ghana, Mr. Haile Gabriel Abebe; the Director General of SODEFOR, M. Mahamadou Sangaré; The Representative of the Ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire to Ghana, Mr. Aka Habib Romaric; and the Executive Director of CA, Dr. Yaw Osei-Owusu. The event was Chaired by Prof. Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, Chair of the Ghana National Biodiversity Committee with plenary discussions moderated by Dr. Yaw Osei-Owusu.

Highlighting the project outcomes, experiences and lessons learnt on the first day, eight (8) presentations were made by Miss. Abigail Frimpong, Prof. Emmanuel Danquah, Dr. SOULEMANE Ouattara, Mr. Christian Fumey, Dr. Egnankou W. Mathieu, Dr. Francois N. Kouamé, Mr. Elvis Kuudar and Dr. Kouamé N’dri Pascal.  A great deal of information was shared, and participants went away with a new appreciation of the good work being done in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire Africa and the importance of the Transboundary Initiative for further activities.

The second day of the workshop consisted of a technical meeting with core project partners from the two countries  and facilitated by Dr. Atsé Yapi, The Lead Technical Officer of the project at FAO-RAF. The GEF Operational Focal Point in Cote d’Ivoire, Madam Alimata Koné-Bakayoko also made a presentation on GEF’s Proposed Programs to participants present. This was followed by remarks from the GEF Operational Focal Point in Liberia, Mr. Nathaniel Blama and other participants. A group work was organised for the Ivorian and the Ghana team to discuss the issues to be addresses in the second phase of the project.
Building on the success of this event, CA looks forward to working more intensively at the regional level and organizing further Regional Workshops in the future

DOCUMENTS

1. Keynote Speech 1 by Dr. Yaw Osei-Owusu
2. Keynote Speech 2 by M. Mahamadou Sangaré

WORKSHOP PRESENTATION FILES

1. Presentation 1: “The project in focus: Project framework and key results” by Abigail Frimpong, CA.
2. Presentation 2: #Right of Passage required!: “Enhancing population sizes of Elephants through creation of vantage corridors” by Prof. Emmanuel Danquah, Ghana – KNUST).
3. Presentation 3: #Right of Passage required!: “Enhancing population sizes of Elephants through creation of vantage corridors” by Dr. Soulemane Ouattara, (Cote d’Ivoire).
4. Presentation 4: “Etude du régime alimentaire des éléphants dans le corridor au niveau de la zone entre les forests classees de  Beki, Bossematie et Diambarakro, by Dr. Kouamé N’ Guessan Francois -Cote d’Ivoire.
5. Presentation 5: “Making forest fringe communities a part of resource management: Building Capacity for Community Forest Management in Cote d’Ivoire” by Dr. Egnankou .W. Mathieu (Dr Komoé Koffi), Cote D’Ivoire.
6. Presentation 6: “Eliminating the perverse incentives to tree cover: Lesons from Tree Registration Process in Ghana” by Mr. Elvis Kuudar, Consultant.
7. Presentation 7 “In pursuit of harmonious co-existence: The complexities of human-elephant conflict management in Bébou” by Dr. Kouamé N’dri Pascal, Cote d’Ivoire.
8. Presentation 8” Making forest fringe communities a part of resource management: the creation of CREMAs within the Bia end of the project” by Mr. Christian Fumey, Resource Management Support Unit (RMSC), Kumasi
9. Presentation 9 “GEF Proposed Programming Directions” by Madam Alimata Koné-Bakayoko, GEF Operation Focal Point-Cote d’Ivoire.