Ghana hunting ban helps threatened species but faces pushback

DW (English)

Ghana's annual hunting ban protects wildlife, but locals want alternatives—especially when they don't have enough to eat and elephants destroy crops.

Transcript

00:00Wildlife rangers have discovered a suspicious footprint.

00:05They are searching for illegal intruders deep inside the Mowley National Park in northern Ghana.

00:12It's part of a mission to protect wildlife.

00:16A six-month nationwide hunting ban came to effect on our guest fest.

00:21As a national park, hunting is not allowed.

00:27It's something that is prohibited in the park.

00:31And the closing has come to enforce it or to enhance the seriousness and effectiveness

00:37of the law enforcement guys with the rangers to enforce more and effective patrols.

00:45Ghana's wildlife is under pressure both from poachers and the loss of habitat.

00:50But the ban is not just for animals that are protected anyway in national parks,

00:56but also key sources of bush meat.

00:59Only grass cutters can still be hunted, provided hunters have a valid license.

01:05The exemption is because they are abandoned and not endangered, unlike many other wild species.

01:12That is why the six-month close season was introduced.

01:17The aim is to give them a chance to replenish their population at an important time.

01:22This is the time animals breed to make or increase population.

01:28They are nursing their younger ones.

01:31Others are pregnant that they need to get to a period to get this offspring delivered for the population of the animals to keep growing.

01:42Meanwhile, a farmer from a village on the edge of the park is hunting for bears.

01:50He wreaks at least one year in prison.

01:53The hunting ban has been in place since the 1970s, but the penalties for violations have been tightened since 2024.

02:01The poachers knows he is violating the ban, but the harvest from his field is not enough to live on.

02:09He has shot down a white-faced whistling duck.

02:13While not considered endangered, his actions are still illegal during the ban.

02:18Sometimes, when I catch a lot, I sell the meat.

02:24I use part of the money to buy fuel, bullets, or to support my family.

02:31I learned hunting from my father.

02:34Now that he is old, I have taken over.

02:39These long-standing traditions are difficult to change.

02:43The success of the hunting ban will depend partly on how well people understand why it's important.

02:50The authorities need to communicate that more effectively.

02:53When the public is away, that this is the result of our abstinence from hunting.

03:02This is how the state is benefiting.

03:04And this is how the individual is also benefiting.

03:07Or the individual, the community, it helps the prisoners.

03:12But for now, there is no visible resource regarding this ban on my life in the country.

03:20Mule National Park is one of Ghana's largest wildlife reserves, covering nearly 5,000 square kilometers.

03:27But it is not fenced in.

03:29Elephants often stray onto farmers' fields outside the park, feasting on crops or trampling them, like farmer Saibu Alhassan's yam field.

03:40This affects people's livelihoods.

03:43Far from wanting to protect the animals, locals are then just frustrated.

03:48The elephants came and did this to my farm.

03:53The yams are still too young to harvest.

03:56Now what am I supposed to do?

03:58It's painful.

04:00And I won't be compensated.

04:03How will I feed my family?

04:05Each time, the park authorities are meticulous in recording the damage.

04:12But so far, there has been no compensation.

04:16A fair scheme for compensating farmers could increase acceptance for protecting the animals.

04:22The issue is also causing discontent in the village of Mognori on the edge of the national park.

04:28Leuzen officer Nyadia Yacobo is reaching out to villages, including former poachers.

04:35He tells them the hunting ban means their children and grandchildren will still be able to experience the wild animals.

04:43But the people don't want lectures.

04:45They want a solution.

04:47They should give us compensation in the form of money.

04:52That would be better than the trees they give us.

04:56He is referring to fruit trees that are distributed free of charge.

05:00Saka Salia has been given cashew and mango trees.

05:04And a bee colony that provides him with honey.

05:07But they are not compensation for damage.

05:10Rather, they are designed to help farmers supplement their income so they no longer need to poach.

05:17They gave us beehives so we could support ourselves.

05:22With this, when the day begins, you don't worry about going out to poach.

05:28You stop hunting.

05:30Because when you harvest the honey, it helps your household.

05:34Life used to be hard.

05:36But since I started beekeeping, by the grace of God, things are changing.

05:43Back to the anti-poaching patrol.

05:45The rangers are also working with cameras.

05:48Today, they show no evidence of poachers.

05:51But what the footage does make clear.

05:53These are just random animals.

05:56But individual creatures worth protecting.

05:59An inquisitive savannah buffalo.

06:02A panther's monkey in a great hurry.

06:05And a very young harness bushback.

06:09Since the hunting ban started in August, the rangers at Mowley National Park have caught three poachers.

06:15During the last six-month ban, the total was 15.

06:20Today, they found nothing.

06:22Maybe just on one successful day.

06:25Or perhaps a sign that the hunting ban is working.

06:30More dawns everywhere, is there.

06:45More happen.

06:49What happened to the Eventually on save time?

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