Kumasi: Journalists at the Second Biennial Media Forum on Natural Resources, Environment, Climate Change and Science (Bim-Necs) have committed to promoting ecosystem restoration and environmental sustainability as part of their professional responsibilities.
According to Ghana News Agency, this commitment was formalized in a declaration issued and signed by Mrs. Mary Ama Agyeman-Kudom, the Executive Director of the Media Platform on Environment and Climate Change (MPEC) during the forum’s closing session. The MPEC, in collaboration with the Afro-Sino Center of International Relations (ASCIR) and the Steminist Foundation Ghana, organized the forum titled ‘Ecosystem Restoration: the Politics, the Science, and the Human and the Economy.’ The event featured senior journalists, editors, and media practitioners from Bono, Bono East, Greater Accra, and Ashanti Regions.
The declaration underscored the urgent need for collective action to address environmental challenges, recognizing the media’s integral role. It emphasized the multifaceted nature of ecosystem restoration, which involves raising awareness, promoting behavioral change, and advocating for policy reforms.
The declaration called for enhanced collaboration between journalists, researchers, and scientific institutions to ensure that accurate and accessible scientific information informs media coverage on restoration and sustainability. It reaffirmed the media’s role in raising awareness, promoting behavioral change, and advocating for policy reforms towards ecosystem restoration in Ghana and Africa. Journalists were encouraged to adopt investigative and solutions-oriented approaches to expose environmental degradation and highlight restoration successes.
Additionally, the declaration urged media institutions, journalism training centers, and development partners to invest in continuous professional development and capacity-building for journalists reporting on environmental issues. It also called for dedicated environmental desks within media houses and support for mentorship programs involving senior environmental journalists.
The declaration highlighted the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships that empower youth and marginalized communities to participate in environmental communication and action. It called on government institutions, civil society, the private sector, and development partners to support independent media efforts aimed at environmental sustainability.
It further proposed a media-led mechanism to track and report on Ghana’s progress toward ecosystem restoration and environmental commitments, including regular scorecards, community feedback loops, and multilingual outreach to ensure inclusivity.
The media’s commitment to sustaining the BiM NECS network as a community of practice was emphasized, championing collaboration, integrity, and innovation in environmental journalism. The declaration called on media practitioners to use their platforms to restore ecosystems, amplify unheard narratives, and ensure that the path to sustainability is inclusive and resilient.