Ghana: 26-27 September. Atewa and Kakum

Danaë Sheehan writes: Augustus and myself head out of Accra before first light to reach the Atewa Range Forest Reserve which lie just west of the main Accra-Kumasi road. We had come here to have a look at an area that we had hoped to include in the project, but for which there was now a few concerns. It had transpired that there was a great deal of illegal logging in the area, and because of this it would be difficult to guarantee that either the fieldworkers, or their camp, would be safe. After a few hours looking around the area and walking into the forest at a few points, it was clear that our concerns had been justified, and so with regret, we left the area and headed off to search for an alternative. We had decided that the area around Kakum National Park would provide the best options, and headed down in that direction. Kakum National Park is less than an hour north of Cape Coast – west of Accra. It protects some of the most extensive rainforest habitat in Ghana, being predominantly moist semi-deciduous forest – with lots of rainfall! Having spent a good few hours exploring possibilities for transects, ringing sites and camp sites, we were confident that it would make a great team base for our southern-most Ghanaian site. An area of coastal scrub just west of Cape Coast added to the diversity in the general area, meaning that the team would also fairly easily be able to gather data from this interesting and important habitat too.