Ghana's tropical rainforests - what does their future have to do with us?

Issue:
Human impact on tropical rainforests

Summary description:
Ghana’s tropical rainforests support a rich diversity of wildlife, are a source of valuable products used by local people, and provide vital services such as watershed protection, yet forest loss in Ghana is one of the highest in Africa. The British (and people from other developed countries) are significantly to blame through our demand for tropical timber that we import from Ghana. Acting locally, by only buying timber from sustainably managed forests, we can help conserve tropical forests. By buying fairly traded goods we can also help people in Third World countries to help themselves to improve their lives.

Key questions:

• Why are the tropical rainforests of Ghana valuable?

• What is the main threat to the forests?

• What has tropical rainforest loss in Ghana got to do with people in the UK?

• How can we help forest conservation and people in Third World countries by acting locally?

Tasks:

Task 1 – write a campaigning leaflet
Task 2 – write a newspaper article
Task 3 – find out about the work of the Forest Stewardship  Council
Task 4 - find out about Fair Trade

Useful Web sites

Teachers' notes for Task 1

Task 1 enables students to find out about the importance of tropical rainforests and the threats facing them, using Ghana's forests as an example. It encourages students to consider how they can affect tropical rainforests by their own actions. Students also have the opportunity to practice extended writing.

After crossing the Sahara, the swallow flies over the West African coastal forests. These forests support a multitude of wild species of animals and plants, as shown in Figure 8. Figures 1 and 2 provide information on the value of Ghana's forests for wildlife and local people. Figures 7 and 9 illustrate the extent of forest losses in Ghana and the major cause of these losses.

Teachers' notes for Task 2

In Task 2, students use the a text item which expresses the views of the Timber Trade Federation  – the voice of the timber industry  – to write an article in a British newspaper dismissing the concerns of environmental groups about the impacts on the international trade in tropical timber.

The environmentalists' campaigning pamphlets produced in Task 1 and the newspaper articles written for Task 2 can be used as the stimulus for class discussion.  With the help of the class, transfer summaries of the main points from the pamphlets and the newspaper articles to a board of flipchart; these might include, for example, "illegal logging" or "use of boycotts."  These points can also be used to help discussion.

Teachers' notes for Task 3

Task 3 enables students to learn about the work of the Forest Stewardship Council and to think about how, by acting locally, they can assist the conservation cause.

Teachers' notes for Task 4

Task 4 enables students to learn about Fair Trade and to find out how they can help people in Third World countries.

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