Thursday, 6 October 2016

NZULEZO: VILLAGE ON LAKE



                       Nzulezo is a village located at the Western Region of Ghana near a village called Beyin at Jomoro District. “Nzulezo“ In nzema language  means “surface water”. Nzulezo is named among the top tourist attractions in Ghana.  It was nominated as UNESCO World Heritage site in the year of 2000. 

                Nzulezo was built over lake Tadane and it  of consists of stilt supported structures integrated seamlessly with the water- dominated natural land scope.  Even the Nzulezo has been known as the village built over water but its inhabitants are into farming, while fishing is a secondary occupation. The community is one of Amasuri Wetland, a ramsar site and the largest inland swamp forest in Ghana.  The Wetland is a habitat for a variety of  aborial and aquatic animals like monkeys, crocodiles, marine turtles and fishes.Nzulezo also represents an outstanding interplay between man and environment.  

                 The village was constructed some five (500) hundred years ago by migrants from Walata, a city prehistoric Ghana Empire which was the earliest of the Western Sudanese States. The  stilt village has a total population of about 700 people. The people who live in the village have belief that Thursday is sacred therefore,  it is forbidden for any activity throughout the day. The village can be reached only by canoe. The community has a school and denominational churches. 

                   Since the commencement of tourism activities in the Amanzuri wetland in 2000, a number of infrastructural developments have been carried out which have been designed for tourism. Due to these developments, we have the Nzulezo village Amansuri Conservation and integrated Development (ACID) project currently running under the auspices of the Ghana Wildlife society and Ghana Tourism Authority.
                                                                                                            By Gabriella Blay

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