Jesse Kazapoe, Head of the White Volta Basin, has sounded the alarm over the growing encroachment on riparian buffers in the Kulpawn Sub-Basin, warning that such destruction poses a grave threat to the long-term sustainability of water resources and aquatic life in the area.
According to Kazapoe, riparian buffers—the vegetated strips that naturally occur along rivers and streams—play a critical role in protecting water bodies. “The vegetation along these water bodies is always denser and different from what you find in the surrounding communities. That’s not by accident. Nature designed it that way to serve a purpose,” he said.
He explained that these buffers help to reduce evapotranspiration, thereby preserving water in rivers and streams. “The trees and their roots shield the water from direct sunlight and slow down evaporation. Their roots also create calm zones where fish can spawn, and the fruits from the trees serve as food for aquatic life.”
Kazapoe warned that continued human activities—such as farming, tree cutting, and harvesting firewood along riverbanks—are stripping these natural protective barriers, exposing rivers to siltation, pollution, and drying. “When we destroy these buffers, we open the rivers to all kinds of waste. The water heats up, the fish lose their breeding grounds, and eventually, the river dries up.”
He emphasized that some fish species require specific temperature ranges to reproduce successfully. “With rising temperatures and the removal of shade-providing vegetation, these fish struggle to breed. We are risking the loss of biodiversity and the collapse of local fishing livelihoods.”
Speaking after a two-day stakeholder meeting to validate the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) plan for the Kulpawn Sub-Basin, Kazapoe noted that one of the plan’s priorities is to halt and reverse the destruction of buffer zones. “The communities themselves have called for aggressive buffer protection. That includes marking out boundaries and ensuring no human activity—no farming, no wood cutting, no encroachment—is allowed within these areas.”
He added that the plan also recommends restoring degraded riparian zones by reintroducing native vegetation. “Even if we cannot restore them to their exact original state, we can reestablish enough of the natural environment to bring back the ecosystem services they provided.”
The Kulpawn Sub-Basin, which lies within the larger White Volta Basin, is a vital ecological zone stretching across parts of the Upper West and North East Regions of Ghana. It encompasses the Gbele Resource Reserve and serves as an important habitat for migratory wildlife.
Kazapoe stressed that protecting riparian buffers is not just about conserving nature—it’s about safeguarding the future of water security in the north. “Without healthy buffers, our rivers cannot survive, and without our rivers, neither can our communities.”
He concluded by calling on local authorities, civil society, and development partners to support the implementation of the IWRM plan and invest in long-term ecological restoration and enforcement.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga
