Inspiring Guinness Ghana to invest in water resources

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Some community members uprooting seedlings from the nursery to be transported to the planting site

A Rocha Ghana

Guinness Ghana has been involved in conservation efforts in the Densu River Basin, because of NGO A Rocha Ghana proactively engaging & motivating them to do so. At the Densu River Basin Stakeholder Mapping Engagement event organised by PricewaterCoopers and commissioned by A Rocha, Guinness Ghana had shown awareness of the importance of water resources, but couldn’t go further because they were facing a water pollution crisis. To inspire the company, the NGO & the Ghanaian Forestry Commission organised a work visit for the company to Ecuador to witness other organizations’ work on water-related ecosystem services, and A Rocha connected with dedicated individuals within the company. Since then, the business has financially supported riverine vegetation restoration activities in the Densu River Basin and Atewa Range Forest Reserve. A Rocha Ghana also invites Guinness Ghana to share their sustainability efforts at public events &outreach activities, to strengthen their relationship.

Last update: 06 Oct 2020

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Context

Challenges addressed

Land and Forest degradation

Loss of Biodiversity

Conflicting uses / cumulative impacts

Ecosystem loss

Lack of public and decision maker’s awareness

Scale of implementation

Local

National

Ecosystems

Tropical evergreen forest

River, stream

Theme

Access and benefit sharing

Biodiversity mainstreaming

Habitat fragmentation and degradation

Ecosystem services

Restoration

Sustainable financing

Water provision and management

Location

Ghana

West and Central Africa

Impacts

Guinness Ghana had previously worked on CSR activities such as building boreholes for communities, but A Rocha’s proactive engagement including informative dialogue within the Businesses in Environmental Stewardship Network (BESNet) has led the company to understand that they can do so much more as a business, potentially sparking future actions. The company is investing in the Green Water Ripples Project which is being implemented by A Rocha Ghana in collaboration with Water Resources Commission. The aim of the project is to restore and secure natural water sources in 6 communities in the Densu basin, the Eastern Region of Ghana. Their investment in the Densu River Basin was the first time that they are working on this type of activity at this scale. This also constitutes a successful case study, evidence and motivation for other companies to notice, learn from, and follow.