
Picathartes(White-Necked Rock Fowl) Under Threat As Their Habitats Are Been Destroyed By Human Activities
- Environmental News
- February 2, 2023
- No Comment
- 503
A White-Necked Rock Fowl, botanically refered to as Picathartes Gymnocephalus are dangerously under threat in Ghana as their forest habitat are been destroyed through human activities.
The vulnerable species are now found only in the ‘Nyamebe Bepo’ Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
The country’s only known colony of white-necked rock bird were previously believed locally extinct, but were rediscovered in 2001 in the forest reserves of the Ahafo Region. It has since disappeared in the forest due to habitat loss caused by consistent logging and wildfires.
It is now evident that ‘Nyamebe Bepo’ Forest Reserve is the only known place left where the white-necked rock fowl can be located and easily seen in Ghana.
Unfortunately, this lone habitat is now under imminent threat by ongoing approvals for logging permits that cover the specific site where these species resides.
However, according to an environmental NGO, called Rocha Ghana, its checks revealed that the habitat of these birds have recently been converted from protection to production status activities.
Meanwhile, Rocha Ghana in a statement said, “There is no doubt that the conversion of their habitats into logging concessions will severely threaten the existence of this beautiful bird in Ghana, and undermine any potential benefits they may bring, such as the huge potential for wildlife tourism”.
The statement added that, “permitting their habitat to be logged is in breach of Ghana’s 1971 Wildlife Conservation Regulation L.I.685 which lists Picathartes as “absolutely protected’ by Ghanaian law, and that, damaging their habitat also goes against Ghana’s commitment to protecting nature under the recently agreed Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).”
It continued that, “As one of the five rarest and most endangered species across the entire continent of Africa, we are calling for a halt to all progress on logging permits in and around the habitat of the precious white-necked rock fowl”.
“We call on all stakeholders – the Forestry Commission, local communities, and all Ghanaians – to engage and seek solutions to conserving the habitats of this rare species and to develop sustainable solutions that protect these birds and benefit the local communities” the statement concluded.
These species of birds are rare to be found and it’s an incumbent on authorities to see to their survival in the home of abode.

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