The Director of the Eco-Conscious Citizens, Nii Maama, has called on the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to declare wetlands and forest reserves security zones to protect the environment and individuals.

“We are destroying nature at an unprecedented rate, threatening the survival of millions of species and our own future,” he said.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday in reaction to structures put up by the Polo Beach Club near the La Beach Hotel, Nii Maama said it was likely to destroy biodiversity and the ecosystem.  

He said structures close to the water bodies must have environmental permits, but the Club was operating without permits, hence could not build or operate.

“Our destruction of biodiversity and ecosystem services has reached levels that threaten our well-being at least as much as human-induced climate change,” he said.

Ecosystem, species, wild populations, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals were shrinking and deteriorating or vanishing.

“This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world,” the Director said.

He said the United Nations Decade of Eco-system Restoration runs from 2021 through 2030, a call to protect and revive all eco-systems around the world, which included wetlands, forests and waterbodies that played a crucial role in the environment as part of activism.

Nii Maama called for the repeal of the Executive Instrument 144, which had been declassified portion of the Achimota Forest and the Legislative Instrument 2462, which allowed mining in globally significant biodiversity areas.

He called on the government and all agencies to ensure that those resources were protected for future generations.