PROF. EDWARD WIAFE DEBRAH

Prof. Edward Wiafe Debrah is the Ag. Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD). He holds a Ph.D. Zoology and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education, University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana; MSc. Forest Ecology and Management, University of Freiburg, Germany; Diploma in Natural Resources Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana; and Certificate in Forest Management, School of Forestry in Sunyani, Ghana.

Prof. Debrah previously served in the following capacities: Ag. Dean, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences (UESD); Dean, Faculty of Development Studies, Presbyterian University, Ghana (PUG);  Senior Wildlife Protection Officer  and Law Enforcement Officer at Wildlife Division of Forestry Commission and Kakum National Park, Ghana, respectively; Range Supervisor, managing forest reserves and trees outside forest reserves, an extension of Forest Services Division of Forestry Commission.

Prof. Wiafe is an External PhD Supervisor in the Central European Universities, Romania; External Examiner:  PhD and MPhil / MSc Thesis and Staff promotions, University of Cape Coast (UCC) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.            

Edward Wiafe served as Ghana’s representative on the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) Council and a chairperson of the International Centre for Sustainable Environmental Promotion. He is also a member of the International Primatological Society (IPS); African Primatological Society (APS); International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF); Species Specialist Group of African Primates Protected Areas for the IUCN; and West African Primates Conservation Action (WAPCA).

Edward embarked on a conservation project funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund to determine the fate of primates in forest reserves in Ghana. The project informed the implementation of the International Conservation Union (IUCN) Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of Chimpanzees in West Africa which targeted three priority Key Biodiversity Areas in Ghana; the Atewa Range, Cape Three Points and Tano-Offin Forest reserves. He contributed to the long-term survival and conservation of endangered primates in Ghana within the project framework. A total of 1,850 young people (1,050 young women and 800 young men) benefitted from conservation education.

 Edward Wiafe made a significant contribution as a red list assessor of threatened species to the IUCN in the assessment of the following primate species: Cercopithecus lowei, Cercopithecus roloway, Procolobus verus, Perodicticus potto. He also collaborated with some of the world’s most renowned conservationists to name and introduce to the scientific community, a new species of tree hyrax known as Dendrohyrax interfluviaris. This drew the attention of conservation biologists to save an endemic species found only between Lake Volta (Ghana) and the Niger (Nigeria) from extinction.

He has to his credit more than fifty (50) research articles in the field of biodiversity preservation and has contributed to the introduction of a low-tech method to reduce human-elephant conflict in Ghana and achieve food security. This method has been adopted by other elephant range countries since then.

His interests include bird watching and visiting ‘wild’ locations.