Wetlands or Wastelands: A Water Resource in Crises. Assessing the Levels of Pollution and Degradation in the Fosu Lagoon in Ghana

Abstract

Coastal lagoons and water resources provide numerous services to communities which are situated within their catchment area. These services ranges from food production to cultural heritage. This has made demand for them to increase thereby putting pressure on the resources. However, within the last few decades most lagoons have been turn into wastelands instead of servicing as a wetlands. Most of these lagoons have degradation by for settlement and polluted by industrial and domestic waste. One of such lagoon in Ghana which is under threat from human activities is the Fosu lagoon. This study therefore investigate the levels of degradation and pollution of the Fosu lagoon and how such incident could affect the livelihood of people who depend on the lagoon. The study employed questionnaire in the data collection process in four communities using a sample size of 40. Some respondents were also selected for the in-depth interview. The interview comprises fishermen, EPA etc. The data was analyzed using SPSS for the quantitative data and content analysis for the qualitative data. Result were generated in a form of frequency tables and charts. From the result obtained, it was observed that the lagoon has witnessed a decline in size and vegetative cover. This is attributed to mostly anthropogenic activities. As a result, it has affected the services provided by the lagoon which has led to loss of biodiversity as well as loss of livelihood. It is recommended that measures should be put in place to stop all forms of activities within the lagoon catchment area in order to restore the ecological integrity of the lagoon.