Leadership for Conservation in Africa (LCA), an African based initiative, aiming to project and develop 20 million hectares of conservation of land in Africa by 2020, has announced its presence in Ghana and West Africa.At the Novotel hotel on Friday, December 09, 2011, LCA held its West African Congress to announce the involvement of the LCA in Ghana and the West African region. The LCA was founded in Ghana in collaboration with the Forestry Commission and Gold Fields Ghana Ltd, also supported by Veolia Water Solutions.The LCA intends to restore and develop land under conservation to the benefit of the environment, local communities and the host government’s in mitigation of climate change. The LCA Council also looks at funding options for conservation projects in Africa.Together, these groups have formed a Ghanaian non-profit organization, with the aim of finding ways to enable tourism-related investments for Shai Hills Resource Reserve, Cape Three Points Forest Reserve and Mole National Park, through Public Private Partnerships.The three-day congress was officially opened by the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Henry Ford Kamel and Mr. Alfred Baku, Vice President, Operations of Gold Fields Ghana.In his opening address, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources commended Gold Fields Ghana, Veolia Water Solutions and the Forestry Commission for their involvement and support in greening the environment and conservation of the Shai Hills and other areas. He assured the partners of the government’s support to make their project a success.Mr. Alfred Baku, Vice President of Gold Fields, Operations who stood in for Mr. Peet Van Schalkwyk, Executive Vice President of Gold Fields West Africa Region, said, Gold Fields is passionate about conservation of the forests and for that matter the company’s involvement of the Shai Hills project and other project is a matter of corporate decision to conserve our forest and natural resources.The LCA is involved in Burkina Faso, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Tanzania and Uganda.Speeches were given by Chris Marais, Chief Executive of LCA International and Mr. Samuel Afari Dartey, CEO of Forestry Commission of Ghana.