Environmental journalists drive change in Ghana

DW (English)

Young journalists are making a difference by throwing the spotlight on environmental problems, such as habitat loss, plastic waste, and illegal mining.

Transcript

00:00It's an exciting encounter for both sides, elephants and human.

00:07Ghana's elephant population has plummeted since the 1970s, from around 30,000 to about just 1,000.

00:1630-year-old Jakpa Kojo Abubakar is a birding environmental journalist.

00:21He's here in the Molle National Park to report on how Ghana's remaining elephants are being protected before it's too late.

00:30So it's important to preserve those animals.

00:33So making documentaries usually, as I am on today, is to send a message outside that there's the need for us to conserve.

00:41Otherwise we lose everything and future generations would come and find out what is an elephant, what is a monkey.

00:48They have not seen it before.

00:49Joining him is Inten and Dalatu from Jakpa's home village.

00:54She wants to learn from him how to tackle environmental issues.

00:58The park ranger also hopes Jakpa's report will raise awareness.

01:03People in the nearby communities or the surrounding villages, they don't take biodiversity very so serious.

01:09They don't take it serious.

01:10So when they come to talk about it, I am happy because it is an education that goes to the communities and the people

01:16and that will show them the importance of biodiversity and keeping the environment for future generations.

01:22In Ghana's capital, Accra, the Center for Sustainable Transformation runs a program called Young Reporters for the Environment.

01:31It trains young people who want to shine a light on environmental issues, but it's not just about learning how to be a journalist.

01:39The aspiration for everyone who comes through the program is that you acquire the knowledge and skills and also the agency to hold stakeholders, policymakers accountable.

01:54And not just that, the ability to be able to contribute to national conversations on sustainability.

02:00Ghana urgently needs environmental reporting, endangered species, plastic pollution, deforestation.

02:10The challenges in Ghana are immense.

02:1337-year-old Mahmoud Mohamed Nuruddin is an award-winning environmental journalist.

02:20Today, he's reporting on Mary Bampo, a cuckoo farmer from the Etiwa area in eastern Ghana.

02:26Through the Red Plus Climate Program, she earns money from planting extra trees among her cocoa crops.

02:39These trees absorb CO2, improve the microclimate and protect the cocoa from heat stress.

02:46Her harvest has quadrupled.

02:49It improves the air around us and it supports the growth of the cocoa trees.

02:55You can already see the impact in my farm.

03:01Many people, especially women in my community, are encouraged by what they see in my farm.

03:10Mahmoud believes it's important to report on projects that reward environmentally friendly behaviour,

03:17like here in the northern village of Yuwagu, where the forest is considered sacred.

03:22Women receive medicinal herbs as a reward for not cutting down trees.

03:28A simple appeal for more environmental awareness often isn't enough.

03:32The challenge is that some people don't really care about the environment when you are educating them,

03:41telling them that the practices they are embarking on is affecting the environment.

03:49And so it's become difficult for people to change.

03:54You keep on telling the stories and they wouldn't want to change because they are gaining.

03:59They think they are gaining from whatever practices they are doing.

04:04Coordinating with a cameraman, Manase Safu Nyameche is just starting out in echo reporting and is passionate about making a difference.

04:13The 23-year-old is reporting from a neighbourhood in Accra next to a notorious plastic and textile landfill.

04:21This is a community that is living by these landfills.

04:24At the end of the day, they are going to bring in these toxic gases.

04:28So as a filmmaker, what I can do is also report on the environment so that people will also get to see the kind of environmental situations

04:37or environmental health impacts that we are facing as a problem so that we can act upon it.

04:42Back to Mahmoud Wuruddin, as a freelance echo-journalist, he is constantly on the move.

04:49Today, he is stopping by his grandfather's house in Kumasi.

04:52His nephews and niece are also there.

04:55At a friend's place nearby, there is a room he can use to edit his cuckoo story for a Guyanian news channel.

05:02Journalism alone can't support his family of three.

05:05So as a trained agricultural scientist, he also works as a farming consultant.

05:10But echo-journalism is where his heart belongs and his family understands that.

05:17They don't really complain about it because it's all about making an impact.

05:23And so if you are making an impact, it's good.

05:27His biggest impact came when he uncovered the cause of illness in a village.

05:33The drinking water was coming from a pond contaminated with animal fizzes.

05:37After his report, an NGO installed a filtration system.

05:43And so sometimes I watched the story and I was like, did I do this story?

05:49I was so excited that I did that story.

05:53Back in Mule National Park, Jakpa and his intern, Andalatu, wrap up filming.

06:00Now it's time to review the footage and decide which shots are the best shots for his newly launched blog.

06:08Because without an audience, even the most urgent report won't make a difference.

06:14So I just finished filming this story and I must say that it was very interesting telling the story about my colleague journalists.

06:24Seeing their passion that they bring to bear in telling these stories.

06:28And one thing that stood out for me really was that their work is impacting communities.

06:32And I was impressed also to see that local communities are now adopting indigenous solutions that are working.

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