High School Students of the Kwabeng Anglican Senior High Technical School (KASHTS) has partnered members of the Atiwa community to construct a three-dimensional (3D) model of the Atiwa Landscape.

About 25 students joined community members from Kwabeng, Abomosu and Tumfa in a series of workshops, which permitted them to produce an accurate model that can inform land-use decision-making in the Atiwa West District.

The exercise held from 9 to 14 August aimed to promote a better understanding of the geographical characteristics of the Atiwa Landscape.

To ensure a high-quality result, a 3D modelling expert from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was engaged to facilitate the process.

In a short ceremony in Kwabeng attended by District Chief Executive (DCE), Isaac Akomaning Asamoah, and the District Coordinating Director (DCD), Emilia Osaadu, the 3D model was gifted to the Atiwa West District Assembly.

The District Assembly will house the model for use in project planning and agricultural training sessions.

“This has been a unique opportunity for community members and youth to jointly collaborate in a geography project that will be very useful for local authorities from Atiwa West to understand their landscape better and engage in sustainable planning,” said Dr Emily Gallagher, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

“Thanks to activities like this one, which educate the population on sustainability activities, the people in Atiwa West are now aware of the importance of preserving the Atiwa Forest and tackling illegal mining,” said Isaac Akomaning Asamoah.

The activity was organized by CIFOR and the Faculty of Natural Resources of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in the European Union-funded Governing Multifunctional Landscapes (GML) project.

It aims to implement a jurisdictional approach in Eastern Ghana’s Atiwa landscape to decouple agriculture expansion and deforestation.

A similar participatory 3D modelling workshop will be held in Kwaebibirem Municipality in September 2021.