Mr Samuel Acquaah, Education Officer at the Ghana Museum and Monuments Board, conducting Nii Osa Mills (2nd right), Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, round the exhibition. To his left is Ms Johanna Odonkor Svaniker. Picture: GABRIEL AHIABOR

‘Let’s develop and promote our tourist sites’

Evelyn Efia Akese Dec - 17 - 2016 , 15:44

A two- week national exhibition on nature conservation has opened in Accra with a call on the private sector to invest and promote tourist sites in the country.

Hosted by the Accra City Hotel, the exhibition put together by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and UNESCO Ghana office in France, showcases a collection of images of special animal species from the Akwamu Gorge in the Eastern Region, Lake Bosomtwe in the Ashanti Region and the Mole National Park in the Northern Region.

Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, Mrs. Mawuena Trebarh, said Ghana was heavily-endowed with rich heritage and nature conservation sites which have over the years remained undeveloped.

She stated that investing in these undeveloped sites could help reduce poverty in the host communities since local economies would be boosted.

Mrs. Trebarh said though some investments have been made in some of these areas, there was still the need for partnership with the private sector to develop them further in order to attract all categories of tourists.

“I am hopeful that this exhibition will enlighten the general public and the private sector to begin to explore avenues for funding to develop these resources. We also need to look at how to protect these resources not only from threats of deforestation and forest degradation, but also the consequent influence on climate change,” she noted.

Opening the exhibition, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osa Mills, said government was ready to partner with the private sector to develop the country’s tourist sites.

He said apart from nature reserves, there were beautiful waterfalls that attract both local and foreign tourists.