Profiling Ghana - the Mole National Park

General Description

The Mole National Park lies within the West Gonja District of the Northern Region of Ghana. Designated as a national park in 1971, Mole is the largest and best known of Ghana’s national parks. It comprises an area of 4840 square km of open savannah woodland, boval, riverine forest, floodplain grassland and swamp that supports a rich diversity of flora and fauna. The main livelihoods of the 27 village communities on the park perimeter are subsistence farming, hunting and gathering.

Importance for Conservation

The park provides habitat for 304 bird species including many migrants. Also recorded are 33 reptile, 9 amphibian and 93 mammal species, including Ghana’s largest population of African Elephants, as well as Lions, African Buffalos and Roan Antelopes. Mole is also rich in flora, with 742 species recorded including 4 endemics and 24 rare species.

Conservation concerns

The key conservation concerns within Mole come from poaching and bushfires. Hunting and trading of bushmeat is important in the local economy and, as such, has had a serious impact on wildlife populations within the park. During the dry season bushfires, often caused by hunting activities, pass through large areas of the park causing considerable habitat damage.

Achievements to date

A Rocha Ghana has been partnering with the park authority to set up Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) to enable local communities to improve their livelihoods through wildlife resource management of designated land buffering the park. So far A Rocha has helped establish the first CREMA and carried out a resource assessment for it. It is producing a booklet to raise awareness of the project in the surrounding villages.

Visions for the future

The A Rocha Ghana team will continue to work with the park’s Community Outreach Unit on involving more villages in the CREMA scheme. A Rocha will be carrying out an environmental awareness campaign with all the communities around the park. It is hoped that this programme will help to strengthen relationships between A Rocha, the villages and the park and encourage the local population toward more sustainable land-use practices.