The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has placed renewed emphasis on youth involvement and community engagement as the cornerstone of efforts to protect Ghana’s marine environment, urging citizens to become active stewards of the ocean’s future.
At a colourful ceremony in Accra to mark the climax of this year’s World Oceans Day, the EPA spotlighted the critical role of education, creativity, and grassroots action in the fight against ocean degradation. This year’s global theme, “Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us,” was adapted locally as “Preserving Our Oceans, Protecting Our Future,” reflecting the country’s growing urgency to act.
In an innovative twist, the EPA celebrated student leadership through an inter-school art competition, drawing entries from Senior High Schools in the Greater Accra Region. La Presec SHS emerged as the overall winner, followed by Nungua SHS, Holy Trinity SHS, and Saint Mary’s SHS. Their artworks reflected the dangers facing Ghana’s coastal ecosystems and offered creative calls to action for marine protection.
Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the EPA, commended the students for their powerful expressions and emphasized the need for community-level reforms. She called on citizens to stop environmentally harmful practices such as open defecation along beaches, illegal sand winning, marine littering, and unregulated fishing.
“Our ocean sustains life—from providing oxygen and climate regulation to feeding millions of people. Yet it is under serious threat, and the responsibility to save it belongs to all of us,” she said.
Prof. Klutse highlighted the government’s environmental strategies such as the National Plastics Management Policy and the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project Phase Two, which targets restoration of critical ecosystems including the Korle Lagoon, Densu Delta, and Keta Lagoon Ramsar Site.
“These are not just wetlands—they are lifelines for communities,” she said. “When we lose our coastal ecosystems, we lose both our natural defences and our livelihoods.”
Deputy Executive Director for Technical Services, Madam Esi Nerquaye-Tetteh, echoed the call for public involvement and praised the EPA’s ongoing outreach efforts. She pointed to the agency’s ocean literacy campaigns, youth-led clean-up drives, and coastal education programs as vital tools for shaping a new generation of conservation leaders.
“Sustainable change begins with informed citizens,” she said. “We need communities not just as beneficiaries of policy, but as champions of marine conservation.”
As Ghana confronts rising threats from coastal erosion, plastic pollution, and habitat loss, the EPA’s community-driven model offers a hopeful path—one where students, traditional leaders, and everyday citizens take the lead in saving the sea.
