Stakeholders discuss Payment for Ecosystem Services framework for Ghana 

Stakeholders in Ghana’s fisheries, environment and marine sectors have begun discussions on developing a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) framework, aimed at creating sustainable financing for the conservation and restoration of the country’s coastal and marine ecosystems.

Professor Pierre Failler, an international consultant helping with the Payment for Ecosystem Services part of the project, said the system aims to provide long-term funding for protecting and managing ecosystems that are important for the Payment for Ecosystem Services component of the project, said the mechanism sought to provide long-term financing for the protection and sustainable management of ecosystems that support fisheries and other economic activities.

Failler cited Mauritania’s National Park of Banc d’Arguin as one of the first successful marine payment for ecosystem services initiatives, saying the arrangement, supported through the European Union fishing agreement, continued to generate approximately one million euros annually for conservation and fisheries management.