Anthony Godbless Ameyaw Churcher
- Project name: Safeguarding a Species Found Nowhere Else: The Atewa Slippery Frog Project
- Project site: Southern Atewa Forest and surrounding lands, Eastern Region, Ghana
- EDGE species: Atewa Slippery Frog (Conraua sagyimase)
- Active: 2026 - ongoing
Biography
Anthony Godbless Ameyaw Churcher is a Ghanaian amphibian conservationist and the Species Protection Manager at Herp Conservation Ghana. He holds a BSc in Natural Resources Management from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where he studied the Bobiri Reed Frog. His experience includes herpetological surveys, ecological data collection, museum work, habitat restoration, conservation education, and management of a captive-breeding programme for the Atewa Slippery Frog.
Anthony seeks to ensure that ecological evidence, public policy, and community participation reinforce one another. Through the Fellowship, he will deepen his skills in project design, social research, GIS, data analysis, and conservation communication while leading urgent work for a species confined to a single Ghanaian forest landscape.
EDGE Project
The Critically Endangered Atewa Slippery Frog is found only in the upland streams of Ghana’s Atewa Forest. The southern sector and potentially suitable streams beyond the reserve remain poorly studied. Small-scale gold mining removes vegetation and pollutes water, while proposed bauxite mining threatens the upland forest. Important populations and possible refuges could therefore remain unrecognised.
Anthony will use passive acoustic recorders, GPS records and habitat measurements to map distribution and compare relative abundance in and around southern Atewa. Surveys on private land will look for additional populations and recruitment. Through collaboration with the Zoological Society of London, he will also submit the first formal description of the species’ tadpole.
Anthony will engage artisanal miners to understand their knowledge and attitudes and work with landowners whose streams may provide habitat outside the reserve. The resulting evidence will support the protection of priority streams, strengthen wider efforts to conserve Atewa, and inform future assessments of safeguarding sites.