- NAME: NELSON ASUSIYA
- PROGRAM: MS in ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, POLICY and MANAGEMENT (MESPOM)
- APPLICANT ID: 2302118
Ghana’s forest reserves are declining rapidly due to the rise of illegal small-scale mining of gold along its forest reserves. Ghana generates approximately 1,000,000 metric tons of plastic waste every year, but only 10% of it is recycled. These two factors are the leading contributors to land pollution and deforestation in my community. This has resulted in the loss of nearly 50% of my community’s vegetation. My quest to better my community led me to form the “Green Advocacy Network,” a community youth group. In an effort to rehabilitate the degraded environment, we organized educational programs about the need to restore the environment. We also planted 1,000 tree seedlings.
As a social activist, I found out that the rise of youth involvement in illegal mining is primarily caused by the lack of decent income-earning opportunities. My long-term goals involve creating green businesses from the recycling of plastic products in my community. This will create decent jobs, cut down on youth involvement in illegal mining, and help restore the environment. In the long term, I will run for office as a Member of Parliament in Ghana.
The MESPOM program teaches how to effectively work in multidisciplinary and multicultural groups to solve environmental problems. With this skill set, in the short term (1-3 years), I will initiate a community-based tree planting system and empower the Green Advocacy Network to spearhead the planting of 1,000,000 trees annually towards restoration of the environment. In the medium-term (3–8 years), I will create jobs from plastic recycling. Presently, Ghana does not have policies that regulate plastic recycling. In the long term (8–15 years), I will use my acquired knowledge on environmental policy to influence the formulation of such policies while serving as a Member of Parliament in Ghana.
Through this program, I look forward to improving my problem-solving skills, creativity, and innovative thinking. I am particularly excited about the potential of networking with other changemakers from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds. It will be my first time traveling outside Ghana, and I look forward to this great experience with MESPOM!
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