Environment

Nkwanta South District is characterized by a tropical climate with dry and humid weather conditions. The rainfall regime experienced in the district is the double maxima type; that is from April to July and September to October. The average number of rain days is 86 with extreme annual rainfalls ranging between 922mm to 1,874 mm. The dry season is from November to March.

The annual mean maximum temperatures range between 24^oC and 39^oC (76^oF and 103^oF) and the annual mean minimum temperatures are between 11^oC and 26^oC (52^oF and 79^oF). January - April are the hottest months while August records the lowest temperatures.

The district is covered by three vegetation zones. These are;

1. Semi-deciduous forest zone, found mainly on the eastern border of the district. This accounts for about 30% of the vegetative cover.
2. The second zone is the savanna woodland, which extends from the north-eastern part of the district southwards to the zone of the semi-deciduous forest. This accounts for about 50% of the vegetative cover.

• The third zone is the savanna grassland extending eastwards from the Volta Lake and its Oti arm. It takes about 20% of the vegetative cover of the district.

The common timber species include Odum, Wawa, and Kyenkyen. Due to logging, farming, cutting of fuel wood and charcoal production, the original vegetative cover has been reduced to secondary forests. It is also worth noting that bush burning is rampant during the long dry season.

The district is home to the Kyabobo Range National Park, the newest in the country. This park is situated in Ghana’s highest mountain range and covers an area of 340 sq. km. It links-up with the extensive Fazao-Malfacassa National Park in Togo giving it an international attraction. It has a unique mixture of both forest and savanna species with different kinds of animals including buffalos, bushbucks, waterbucks, black and white colobus monkeys, potas monkeys, mona monkeys and birds of diverse varieties.

The district is witnessing uncontrolled degradation of its physical and natural resource base through a number of factors such as bush fires; inappropriate farming practices and deforestation. Climate change is eminent in the whole region in terms of change in rainfall pattern and weather conditions.