Ghana has created its first marine protected area (MPA). The zone is designed to safeguard marine life while allowing some fishing in the ocean off Cape Three Points.
The move has been hailed by politicians and experts as a huge step forward, although it will take much more legwork to reach international targets.
“This moment will be remembered as the day Ghana took a bold and irreversible step to protect her oceans, restore her fisheries and secure the future of her coastal communities,” said the country’s fisheries minister, Emelia Arthur.
Arthur said the Greater Cape Three Points area has rich biodiversity and supports many local fishing communities. But like many marine systems, she added, it also faces pressure from overfishing and habitat degradation. Setting up a protected area controlling some of this damaging activity will help restore both the ocean and coastal communities.
Environmental groups have responded warmly.
“In simple terms, the declaration of Ghana’s first MPA means giving fish the space to recover, reducing destructive activities and ensuring that fishing can continue in a more sustainable way,” said Stephen Kankam, deputy director of the Ghanaian NGO Hɛn Mpoano (Our Coast), which was heavily involved in this MPA’s creation.
Steve Trent, CEO of the Environmental Justice Foundation, said: “This MPA declaration is a defining moment for Ghana. Its fisheries are under severe pressure, and the coastal communities that depend on them cannot wait.”
In 2022, governments across the world pledged to protect at least 30% of the world’s lands and oceans by 2030 – the 30×30 goal. But progress has been woeful. A 2024 analysis found African countries in particular to be struggling with ocean protection: only 5.3% of African ocean waters are inside protected areas, and even these are less likely to be effectively protected than MPAs elsewhere.
Earlier this month, the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre announced the proportion of the global ocean under protection has risen to 10.01%. But the announcement was far from complacent: “Whilst this represents considerable progress, an area approximately the size of the Indian Ocean still needs to be designated by 2030 if international ambitions for ocean protection are to be achieved.”
Ghana’s first marine protected area covers around 700 sq km, or approximately 0.3% of its total ocean area. The country is still a considerable distance from its own 30×30 target.
“This is not an end – it is a beginning,” Arthur promised.