Summary of Project Progress
Successful monitoring of climate, lake physics, chemistry and primary productivity of lake Bosumtwi with state-of-the-art equipment have yielded high resolution data which indicates persistent stratification and incomplete mixing of the water column evident of climate warming which may be causing reductions in fish stocks. The ecosystem model (GOTM-FABM-PC lake) has been setup and calibrated based on historical data. Validated classified land use and land cover maps for the watershed over the period 1986-2018 shows that lake volume has shrunk by 3.7 % while 22.6 % of closed and open forests have been lost to farmlands, built-up areas and bare lands due to livelihood diversification in response to ecosystem changes and fisheries decline. Lake fish stocks are low, overexploited and poorly managed. Livelihood assessment indicate a gradual shift from fishing to farming. However, fishermen without options have intensified fishing efforts to further exploit the limited fish stocks.