The Sakumo Ramsar Site also known as the Sakumo Lagoon is a wetland of international importance. It covers an area of and is situated along the coastal road between

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

and

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most popul ...

in the Greater Accra Region of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. It is about west of Tema. Activities ongoing within the site include farming, fishing, recreation, urban and industrial development.

Ramsar Site

Sakumo wetlands was proposed as a

Ramsar Site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Sesuvium portulacastrum ''Sesuvium portulacastrum'' is a sprawling perennial herb that grows in coastal areas throughout much of the world. It is commonly known as shoreline purslane or (ambiguously) " sea purslane," in English, ''dampalit'' in Tagalog and 海马齿sl ...

'' with various associated grass species. Land-use in the catchment includes rice, cassava, and vegetable cultivation.

Fauna

Fish

The lagoon has surface area, and is defined as semi-closed because of its permanent, but limited interaction with the sea. Sixteen fish species or genera have been found in the lagoon, and may be grouped in four main categories as follows: * Fresh water fish occurring only during the rainy season (e.g. ''

Clarias gariepinus ''Clarias gariepinus'' or African sharptooth catfish is a species of catfish of the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes. Distribution They are found throughout Africa and the Middle East, and live in freshwater lakes, rivers, and swa ...

'') * Permanent inhabitants of the lagoon (e.g. ''

Sarotherodon melanotheron The blackchin tilapia (''Sarotherodon melanotheron'') is a species of cichlid native to coastal west Africa. It is a paternal mouthbrooder which has been introduced to Asia and North America. In the Philippines, it is also informally called ''g ...

'') * Juvenile stages of marine fish swimming into the lagoon after the rainy season (e.g. ''

Mugil cephalus The flathead grey mullet (''Mugil cephalus'') is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically . It is known with numerous English names, ...

'') * Marine fish coming for short incursions into the lagoon (e.g. '' Lutjanus fulgens'') The lagoon is heavily over-fished, resulting in a reduced catch over the years.

Avifauna

Past records have registered over seventy waterbird species at the site, with about 30,000 birds. The common species are ''

Charadrius hiaticula The common ringed plover or ringed plover (''Charadrius hiaticula'') is a small plover that breeds in Arctic Eurasia. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from ...

'', '' Chlidonias niger,'' '' Egretta garzetta'', '' E. gularis'', ''

Sterna hirundo The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory ...

, S. sandvicensi'' and '' Tringa erythropus''. Some breeding waterbirds include '' Glareola pratincola'', '' Charadrius pecuarius'' and '' S. albifrons''. The Black heron ('' E. ardesiaca'') is considered sacred and protected by local taboos.

Marine Turtle

Species of marine turtle that have previously been recorded nesting on the beach are ''

Lepidochelys olivacea The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known Common name, commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the Family (biology), family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant ...

,'' ''

Chelonia mydas The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the Family (biology), family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia' ...

'' and ''

Dermochelys coriacea The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weights ...

.''

Conservation Issues

The area which was designated in 1992, currently has portions taken over by land developers (urban and industrial). The surrounding area has one of the highest urban growth-rates within the coastal zone. Sewage and domestic waste from the catchment also threatens the lagoon. The spread of urbanization continues, and if not stopped the entire catchment will be destroyed. The area has high recreational and educational or research value as one of the green areas left in the Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area. The lagoon is regarded as a fetish by the indigenous people of Tema, New Town. During the dry season (August to March), the larger part of the lagoon dries up. The area is encroached upon by cattle grazing in the dry season, and by land developers who build very close to the site -- which is a government property and should not be used by any developer. There is a Biodiversity Conservation and Local Community Development Project to rehabilitate degraded areas and conserve the biodiversity within the Sakumo Ramsar Site.

Rehabilitation of site

The Wildlife Division of the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

is the government agency responsible for the area. The Environmental Protection Agency-Ghana and the United Nation Environment Programme initiated an afforestation project of planting trees in the wetland area, using treated waste water as a way of reforesting and conserving the degraded areas. Others are Sakumo Ramsar Conservation and Resource Users Association and the Friends of Ramsar Sites. The surrounding communities such as Klagon,

Sakumono Sakumono is a small town before Nungua from Ashaiman. It is in the Tema Metropolitan district, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It was originally a small fishing village on a lagoon, but by 2008 is being swallowed up as the twin ci ...

and

Nungua Nungua is a town in Krowor Municipal District in the Greater Accra Region of southeastern Ghana near the coast.Ramsar sites in Ghana Lagoons of Ghana