Issah Seidu (ELP 2024) | Lecturer, Department of Wildlife and Range Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
Growing up in the middle belt of Ghana, I was surrounded by community members engaged in small-scale farming and hunting. Naturally, I aspired to join their ranks. My passion for farming led me to study Agricultural Science at a prestigious senior high school in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Our community was close to a Wildlife Reserve, where we often encountered a variety of wild terrestrial animals. We hunted some of these animals and even used them as playthings. I particularly admired the dragonflies, butterflies, antelopes, and primates, which we considered harmless.
Despite my fascination with these creatures, I never intended to study or conserve them until a pivotal event occurred. One of my favorite monkeys was shot dead by a farmer after the troop had raided his crops. The farmer was arrested and prosecuted, sparking a community-wide discussion. Many community members were unaware of the laws protecting wild animals and viewed them merely as a source of meat and income. This incident led to the initiation of conservation education and awareness programs by the wildlife division and non-governmental organizations. I actively participated in these programs and learned about the severe threats facing wildlife, including many primate species, and the need for their protection.
This newfound knowledge inspired me to pursue a BS in Natural Resources Management, specializing in Wildlife and Range Management, followed by an MPhil in the same field at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. During my studies, I focused on the conservation of cryptic, elusive, and threatened terrestrial species such as crocodiles, primates, freshwater fish, dragonflies, and damselflies. My research for both degrees centered on dragonflies.
After completing my master's degree, I visited my uncle in Dixcove, a coastal fishing community in Western Ghana. There, I witnessed sharks for the first time, which piqued my curiosity. I learned that out of the 73 shark species listed for Ghana, over 60% were threatened with extinction, including species classified as vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered. Two species of sawfish were even listed as Possibly Extinct. Disturbed by this, I sought more information and discovered a lack of data on these species. It seemed that no one was addressing their silent extinction in our waters.
Motivated to make a difference, I began collecting baseline data to develop management and conservation strategies for sharks in Ghana. Since 2018, my team and I have gathered extensive fisheries-dependent and independent data and have worked with 17 shark and ray fishing communities to mitigate their impact on these species. We are also collaborating with local and national government authorities to develop strategies to prevent the extinction of these species in our waters.
My motivation to continually work on sharks and marine megafauna stems from the alarming threats these species face both in Ghana and globally. Currently, 37% of all sharks and rays are threatened worldwide, necessitating urgent and dramatic action to address this crisis (IUCN SSC. "New Global Study Finds Unprecedented Shark and Ray Extinction Risk"). In Ghana and across West Africa, the overexploitation of sharks has intensified. Sharks and rays, once considered bycatch in many artisanal fisheries, are now targeted for their meat and fins, providing fishers with double benefits and driving them to target these species without regard for conservation. Additionally, there is a significant lack of key baseline data on these species in Ghana and West Africa. This crucial information is needed to develop effective management and conservation policies, which is the primary focus of my work in the region.
[The blog post was published on flikr. Original image by Richard Ling. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivs 2.0 Generic.]