Ecotourism

The communities served by the Yonso Project are situated in a landscape of lushly forested plateaus and valleys that are part of the Atwea Escarpment, a geological formation that stretches across central Ghana. Because this area is home to many species that are found nowhere else, the region has been featured by Conservation International as a "Biodiversity Hotspot". The forests of West Africa are threatened, however, and those around Yonso are no exception. Hunters from resident communities roam the woods in search of dwindling game, and wood carvers harvest old-growth hardwoods for their work.

Both hunters and loggers are simply trying to feed their families, but the cumulative effect of such human activity in the forest is disastrous. The amount of forested land in Ghana shrinks every year, and local resident populations of monkeys and antelope have been pushed to the brink of extinction. The Campbell's monkey has almost disappeared, while the Black and White colobus monkey can no longer be found in the region at all.

Conservation groups worldwide have found that ecological tourism (or "ecotourism") can be among the most effective of tools in the fight to save ecosystems from destruction. Tourists from the developed world now spend millions of dollars annually to visit natural places remarkable for their biodiversity and beauty. Done properly, ecotourism can create local jobs while also preserving the environment. But while some ecotourism ventures have been dramatically successful in serving people and ecosystems, others have disappointed local partners and actually harmed the environment they were intended to protect. The Yonso Project hopes to eventually establish a low-impact ecotourism project in or near Yonso in cooperation with the Ghanaian Forestry Commission and other partner organizationse. We would like to begin reintroducing primate species that have disappeared from these woods and establish a means of preserving a large portion of forest for future generations. However, because we are determined that this project be we view this as a long term project that must be carefully planned in cooperation with the community.

In 2009, the Yonso Project founded an ecotourism advisory board made of three appointed representatives from our communities and two representatives from the YP Ghana staff. Together, they will work with the broader community to investigate possibilities for future ecotourism operations. The YP is also working with GACON, the Ghanaian Association for the Conservation Of Nature, to perform the research necessary to found a successful ecotourism business. Whatever model we create must meet a "triple bottom line" -- that is, it must be sustainable in a financial, ecological, and humanitarian sense. Our goal in the coming years is to build a business that will be able to provide stable employment for the residents of our communities, bring tourism dollars to small businesses, provide financial incentives for the preservation of local species, and produce a steady funding source for our scholarships and microloans.

In the short term, however, we are addressing the problem of poaching and logging around Yonso by finding alternative means of employment for the men who are engaged in such activities. These men take no pride in what they are doing to the forest, but many understandably feel that their families' day-to-day needs justify their poaching and logging. By providing other jobs at a decent wage, the YP hopes to simultaneously raise the standards of living of men who poach and also remove the threat they pose to the ecosystem. Our flagship program is the new Bamboosero bamboo bike workshop, which was created in association with Calfee Design. We hope to also develop other business opportunities that will provide good-paying jobs to ex-poachers and ex-loggers while steering them away from environmentally destructive activities.

Please stay tuned for updates about our efforts to develop the YP Ecotourism program! For questions, comments or more information, please contact Sam Dupre at sdupre@yonsoproject.org