Stakeholders from water, land, and environmental protection sectors have met to dialogue on how to protect the East coastline of Ghana. The three-day workshop, under the 'Blue Deal Ghana Program' which was held at Reddington Hotel, was meant to share ideas on how best to protect the coastline of Ghana using nature-based solutions to restore the natural ecosystem and prevent further degradation caused by coastal erosion, flooding, and sea level rise. Mr James Aggrey, Project Coordinator of Blue Deal, disclosed to the Ghana News Agency that the purpose of the workshop was to dialogue and brainstorm on how best they could initiate a project to protect the shoreline of Ghana to protect lives, livelihoods, and property. 'The Blue Deal program is a delta protection approach using nature-based solutions which will not involve hard engineering works as we used to have like the rocky groins, but rather soft approaches.' Among the nature-based approaches, he mentioned the 'Sand Engine Approach' which would involve pumping sand from the sea onto the shore and allowing natural processes to redistribute it as well as planting mangroves, coconut, and palm to nourish the new coastline. The Blue Deal Ghana Programme is a partnership between the Ghana Water Resource Commission and the Dutch Water Authorities and their partners. The move was aimed at protecting the Eastern coastline of Ghana from Prampram to Keta using nature-based solutions. About 40 participants from partner institutions and agencies including the Ghana Hydrological Authority, Volta River Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, World Bank, Volta Regional Coordinating Council, and the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Councils have benefited from the workshop. The East coast of Ghana has experienced serious tidal surge disasters in recent years causing loss to property and businesses. Over 5,000 properties were destroyed by the tidal waves in the last four decades. Th is situation prompted many to call for a permanent solution by putting a sea defense project. Source: Ghana News Agency