Ghana to undertake Taxonomy Project

Accra, Aug 01, GNA - Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is to undertake a 12-month programme, which would enable people to scientifically apply the names to identify living organisms around them in conformity with the Convention on Biological Diversity. That could be achieved through conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of biological diversity and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

Professor Alfred A. Oteng-Yeboah, a Deputy Director of CSIR in charge of Environment and Health, said in Accra at the opening of a four-day workshop on "Assessing Taxonomic Needs in Ghana". It is being done in collaboration with National History Museum, BioNET International, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, BioNET WAFRINET and the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs of United Kingdom.

Prof Oteng-Yeboah explained that Taxonomy was the science of classification, which involved the application of names to objects for those objects to be referred to.

He said; "the process of name application takes note of the characteristics of the object, so that when a name is given to it, that name is attached to it on the basis of those characters".

Prof Oteng-Yeboah said: "A lot of our local people are very familiar with the things around them and they can refer to them and talk about them to the people of the same language or experience."

He said before the appropriate taxonomic resources could be made available; there was the need to identify problems and gaps and to find solutions to them.

He said the minds of Ghanaians needed to be agitated on ways of acquiring information about the biological resources in the country. The process of name application was a basic human endeavour, which was meant for identification, association and recognition.

Prof Oteng-Yeboah said: 93The mode of name giving does not follow any order in the traditional systems and the names become known to only people with the same cultural background or experience.=94

He said: 93Consequently we have different names to the same object as we travel through the country. This difficulty in transferring local names to objects limits local taxonomy.=94

Prof Oteng-Yeboah said the scientific name application is always more preferred because it had wider application.

He said the project would facilitate the full implementation of Article 7 of the Convention on identification and monitoring and would enhance human resources and capacity development in taxonomy; infra-structural development in taxonomy, increase fundamental data on biological diversity in areas of priority for the country and generate the needed taxonomic data.

He said that would contribute to wealth creation and reduction of poverty because by empowering all stakeholders, who used the biological resources would serve as basis for decision-making in conservation and sustainable use of biological and genetic resources.

He asked all stakeholders to get involved in the project as it would bring about job creation and the reduction of poverty. Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, whose speech was read for him, expressed joy that Ghana was the first country in Africa to be selected by the United Kingdom for the Project.