The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John, has appealed to the Chief Justice to set up forestry offences court to swiftly deal with offenders to ensure sanity in the management of the nation’s reserves and protected areas.
According to him, in spite of the many benefits derived from the forest, the forest and wildlife reserves of Ghana continue to face serious threat of degradation due to illegal logging, illegal mining also known as galamsey, unsustainable farming practices, wildfires, among others.
These practices, he noted, apart from destroying the forest, also contribute to the much talked-about climate change phenomenon – a change in average weather conditions, usually leading to global warming.
Sir John was speaking at the launch of the 6th Forestry Week and Greening Ghana celebration in Hohoe, the Volta Region.
The day was to commemorate the International Day of Forests set aside by the United Nations to create awareness on the importance of all types of trees in and outside the forest.
In Ghana, the day is used to plant trees and create awareness on the need for Ghanaians to consider the forest as a renewable energy source.
Mr. Owusu Afriyie also appealed to judges across the country to try to issue stiffer punishments to forestry law offenders as a way of scaring them and others away from committing forestry-related offences.
He was worried that despite the many advancements in alternative and cheaper sources of fuel, about 70 percent of Ghanaians continue to depend on wood for their household fuel needs and as a source of livelihood. A situation he said if not properly managed, could endanger the forests and lives of all Ghanaians reminding, “When the last tree dies the last man dies.”
He stated that the Volta Region was chosen for the celebration because it is a hub for charcoal production in commercial quantities.
Mr. Owusu Afriyie hinted that the Forestry Commission, in collaboration with actors in the wood fuel industry, would set up plantations of fast-growing trees in the Volta Region to ensure a constant and reliable supply of fuel wood for charcoal.
A deputy minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio, said the complex nature of the country’s land tenure system, coupled with weak law enforcement, downplay efforts by stakeholders to protect and rejuvenate the nation’s forest resources.
This, he noted, had affected the rainfall pattern and resulted in low agricultural productivity.
Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Maxwell Blagogee, pledged the support of the Regional Coordinating Council, municipal and district assemblies to work with the Forestry Commission to enforce by-laws that seek to protect the forests.
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