Mr. Sorku K. Yahuza, the North Gonja District Chief Executive (DCE), has said illegal chainsaw activities are getting out of hand at Daboya farming community in the Northern Region, as the operators are depleting the forest reserves through charcoal burning.
The situation, he said, is being aggravated by the alleged involvement of some forest officials with the illegal operations to cut down the lumber.
According to him the situation is disturbing as the land gets degraded, making it difficult for farmers to make yields after acquiring loans to cultivate their farm produce.
The District Chief Executive who disclosed this to the B&FT said though efforts are being made by the Assembly to curb the situation, there is need for the inhabitants to cooperate and report anyone found cutting the trees reserved for future purposes.
Mr. Yahuzi said most of the illegal operators have been given letters by the forestry officials to work in certain concessions, and wondered why the forestry officials have not served the Assembly with copies of such letters to enable it follow-up and ensure the operators live up to their social responsibilities in the communities.
He called on the Forestry Commission to stop issuing permits for operators to cut down the trees within the Gonja land, stressing that the law will deal with anyone caught "destroying our source of livelihood".
Mr. Yahuza observed that the state of the nation�s forest is under threat from desertification as a result of wildfire and illegal chainsaw activities.
The situation, he said, calls for intensive periodic preventive efforts: "If nothing is done to address the problem, the livelihood of the community will be in danger.
"The absence of a clear-cut national policy has led to ad-hoc and uncoordinated planning and poor enforcement of wildfire laws, as well as lack of needed resources/incentives to encourage fire volunteers or forest management teams to achieve their goal," he added.
He therefore called on government to ensure a comprehensive framework for addressing the wildfire menace and illegal chainsaw activities. He said the community has rich land and could attract investors in agriculture to the area, but due to the poor road network the lands are under-utilised.
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