Across the Volta Basin, a new chapter is unfolding - one where science, community voices, and regional cooperation come together to restore ecosystems and secure livelihoods.
At a regional workshop held in Lomé in February 2026, the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) and its partners validated two major outputs of the GEF-funded REWarD project: an updated ecosystem mapping and assessment framework, and a methodology to value ecosystem services across the basin. These tools are set to transform how natural resources are managed across six countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo.
But beyond the technical achievements lies a deeper shift: a growing recognition that ecosystems can only be protected when the people who depend on them are part of the decision-making process.
The Volta Basin supports more than thirty million of people through agriculture, fisheries, water supply, and ecosystem services that regulate climate and reduce disaster risks. Yet these ecosystems are under increasing pressure from climate change, land degradation, and competing uses.
Understanding how ecosystems function and how communities depend on them - is essential to reversing this trend. The newly validated tools provide, for the first time, a comprehensive, basin-wide picture of ecosystems, their services, and the threats they face. They also introduce a practical framework to assess the economic and non-economic value of nature, enabling better-informed decisions.
This aligns directly with global calls to restore ecosystems and promote harmony between people and nature.
The ecosystem assessment (Deliverable 2) maps ecosystem types, services, and pressures across the basin while integrating a gender perspective. It highlights how women and men interact differently with natural resources and identifies inequalities in access, benefits, and decision-making power.
The valuation framework (Deliverable 3) builds on this knowledge by providing tools to quantify the benefits ecosystems provide - such as water regulation, food production, and climate resilience. By adopting a “benefit transfer” approach, the project enables consistent and cost-effective valuation across countries, while allowing for local adaptation where needed.
Together, these tools will feed into a basin-wide Decision Support System, helping policymakers weigh trade-offs and prioritize sustainable investments.
At the same time, another transformation is taking place on the ground.
Across the six countries, communities have come together in 2025 to form National and Regional Coordination Mechanisms of natural resource users. Farmers, fishers, pastoralists, women’s groups, youth, and local authorities are now represented in structured platforms that connect local realities to national and regional decision-making.
For many users, this is the first time their voices are formally recognized.
These coordination mechanisms are more than institutional innovations - they are a response to real challenges faced by communities: water scarcity, declining soil fertility, pressure on fisheries, and conflicts over resource use.
By creating spaces for dialogue and representation, they help:
reduce conflicts among users,
promote inclusive and equitable resource management,
integrate local knowledge into basin-wide planning.
As one participant noted during the process:
“We depend on the basin. Now, we also have a voice in how it is managed.”
The convergence of scientific tools and participatory governance marks a major milestone for the Volta Basin.
The newly established National (6) and Regional (1) Users’ Coordinations now serve as an interfaces between communities and the Volta Basin Authority, ensuring that decisions are informed both by data and by lived experience.
At the same time, ecosystem mapping and valuation provide the evidence base needed to guide policies, investments, and restoration efforts.
This dual approach - combining knowledge and participation - strengthens transboundary cooperation and enhances resilience across the basin.
The next phase of the REWaRD project will focus on translating these advances into concrete actions:
integrating ecosystem valuation results into planning and decision-making tools,
implementing pilot restoration and livelihood activities,
monitoring impacts using gender-responsive and ecosystem-based indicators,
strengthening collaboration among countries and stakeholders.
The Volta Basin’s experience shows that restoring ecosystems is not only a technical challenge - it is also a social and governance transformation.
By valuing nature and empowering communities, the basin is moving toward a more sustainable and inclusive future - where environmental protection, economic development, and social equity go hand in hand.
In the spirit of global efforts to protect our planet, this initiative reminds us that lasting change happens when people and ecosystems are considered together.
About the REWaRD Project
The REWaRD Project (2023–2028) is a regional initiative involving the six Volta Basin countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and co-implemented by UNEP and IUCN, the project is executed by the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) in partnership with the Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP-AO). Supporting the implementation of the Volta Strategic Action Plan, REWaRD aims to reverse ecosystem and water degradation through strengthened transboundary governance, improved knowledge and decision-making tools, and ecosystem-based approaches that promote sustainable livelihoods and benefit both people and nature.