Climate change swallows history, homes in Ghana

THE salty wind blows across the ruins of Ghana's Fort Prinzenstein, where thick walls once held thousands of enslaved Africans before their journey across the Atlantic.

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Now, only a shell remains - a crumbling monument teetering at the edge of the sea.

For centuries, Ghana's coastline has borne the brunt of history. Today, it is being consumed by nature and neglect as climate change, rising sea levels and unchecked human activity eat away at the 550km shore.

Villages are vanishing, and with them, centuries-old heritage.

The modern economy is also at risk. A few metres away from the fort, Ernestina Gavor cleans a glass behind a bar.

"I'm hoping it survives a few more years," she said, noting that the restaurant relies on tourists to keep afloat.

Fort Prinzenstein, once a Danish slave fort and now a Unesco World Heritage Site, is among the most threatened sites on Ghana's coast.

James Ocloo Akorli, its caretaker for 24 years, has watched the Gulf of Guinea claw away at the structure - and his memories.

The coast used to be about four miles from the fort, he recounted. The village he was born in has been swept away, his family packing up and leaving in 1984.