The Strengthen the Roots (StR) Project has officially come to a close after three years of impactful work, leaving behind not just reports and numbers but a spirit of growth, resilience, collaboration, and hope.
Funded by the Dutch National Postcode Lottery and coordinated by IUCN NL alongside Wilde Ganzen, the project ran from 2022 to 2025 in Ghana, Bolivia, and Indonesia.
In Ghana, A Rocha Ghana (ARG) and the West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI) served as the lead implementing partners.
The initiative focused on empowering communities living around threatened natural areas to strengthen their resilience through capacity building, sustainable initiatives, and advocacy.
In Ghana, the project engaged Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) across key landscapes, including Atewa, Mole, Nzema, and the Togo Atakora Weto, with national-level interventions also targeting policy advocacy.
Participating CBOs such as FLOWER, CCAL, NorthCode Ghana, SILDEP, GYEM, and GEAG benefited from capacity-building programs, coaching, training in fundraising, leadership, media, and communications, as well as match-funding opportunities to support their advocacy and conservation initiatives.
Through these efforts, the StR Project strengthened grassroots voices in environmental protection, bolstered organizational credibility, and created stronger local constituencies demanding accountability and transparency in natural resource governance.
As the curtain falls on the project, its legacy is expected to endure — shaping stronger futures for communities, protecting critical landscapes from threats such as mining, illegal timber trade, and unsustainable charcoal production, and advancing Ghana’s sustainable development agenda.
