The Environmental Information Network (UNPAN, 27 Aug 2010)

The Environmental Information Network (EIN) has electronically linked the databases of two key environmental agencies in Ghana: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which deals extensively with deforestation issues but has also been mandated by the Ghanaian Government to do research into forest products. Important documents and records related to environmental management were scanned into an electronic database that can be accessed via local computer networks that connect the agencies' offices. Researchers from the two agencies are also linked by telephone and e-mail, and connected to the World Wide Web to give them access to international research.
The EIN database is accessible through ten regional EPA offices, which enables widespread access to the information. This gives local people and community leaders the opportunity to input their knowledge about the environmental situation in their area into the system by sending up-to-date information to the network via telephones, fax or e-mail from the regional offices.