During a workshop on the DaRT, held from 20 to 22 August 2024 in Accra, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) of the Republic of Ghana adopted the DaRT tool developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Ghana's national experts and focal points of biodiversity conventions (such as the Convention on Biological Biodiversity, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, or the Convention on Migratory Species) learnt how to utilize the DaRT tool from UNEP DaRT experts.
As the DaRT tool aims to streamline and harmonise how countries report on progress in biodiversity to address the common issue of overlapping figures across different conventions, the Director for Environment at the MESTI, Dr. Peter Dery, highlighted that "synergy (in reporting) is crucial not only for adhering to international reporting obligations but also for fostering transparency within the country". Subsequently, Dr Dery said that DaRT would make it easier for the country to converge data, ensuring that “when Ghana speaks about biodiversity, we speak with one voice”.
The DaRT tool provides private and secure national workspaces enabling countries to organise, share and store information, data, knowledge and guidance across conventions according to national, regional and global environmental objectives. The development of DaRT was done in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Information, Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (InforMEA) and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and with financial support from Switzerland, the European Union and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
More information from Ghana's local news: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-news-ghana-to-implement-data-reporting-tool-for-biodiversity-reporting.html