October 2015, in Akosomb0 in Ghana, I attended the first Pan-African Business and Biodiversity Forum A special session on extractive industries highlighted the opportunities and needs of industries’ investment in ecological restoration.

This pioneering international meeting aimed to encourage open dialogue among business, government and civil society in Africa on biodiversity conservation and inclusive development. Apart from supporting the forum organisation, I was honoured to announce the signing of cooperation agreement between Ghacem (HeidelbergCement Group) and Ghana Wildlife Society (BirdLife in Ghana) who will work on a programme of ecological restoration projects at four Ghacem mining sites in Ghana. The projects range from carrying our baseline biodiversity studies for better impact assessment, to supporting the reestablishment of sustainable land use practices by the local communities surrounding the mines.

The cooperation agreement set an excellent tone of parnership and trust at the Forum, so much needed when new initiatives are launched. Over the next three years Eco-restore will report on the progress with ecological restoration in Ghana.