Tropenbos Ghana, a Civil Society Organization (CSO) which focuses on the environment, has called on the government to rescind its decision on declassifying portions of the Achimota Forest by revoking Executive Instrument 144.
According to them, the Executive Instrument degazetting the forest would open it up to all types of development, which will affect the integrity of the area as a forest reserve.
In May this year, the government of Ghana declassified some portions of the Achimota Forest Reserve. This has generated a lot of controversy in the Ghanaian media with varied comments being expressed about the propriety of the action amidst the country’s commitments to environmental protection.
Although the government says the degazetted portion, about 361 acres, is being ceded to the custodial owners of the forest land, the Owoo family, environmentalists insist that the government ought to protect and preserve it due to its importance.
“With several decades of experience in forest resource government and management, Tropenbos Ghana views attempts at degazetting forest reserves as a dent on the conservation and restoration effort. This development is worrying considering the fast rate at which Ghana is losing its forests, and three cover,” a statement issued by the CSO said.
According to the latest World Bank Ghana Country Environment Analysis, environmental degradation costs Ghana $6.3 billion annually nearly 11% of the GDP.
“We cannot be seen to championing a Green Ghana Agenda and other restoration efforts while declassifying large portions of already existing forests, particularly for private gains.”
Tropenbos Ghana is of the view that government can follow good examples as in the case of Rwanda where significant attempts are being made to reserve its forest depleting trend.
“The East African nation has shown commitment to protecting its environment by allocating $4.5 million annually towards the safeguarding its forests. Recently an industrial enclave in Kigali, capital of Rwanda was relocated at the cost of the State to make way for the development of a wetland. Rwanda’s revised forest policy is making forestry one of the foundations of the economy while ensuring a national ecological balance with long-term benefits for all segments of society,” the statement added.
As Ghana marks Green Ghana Day, Tropenbos Ghana wants the government to audit the current state of all forest reserves in Ghana with a master plan on how to restore degraded ones.
They also want government to design and implement a deliberate programme for monitoring and reporting forest and tree cover increases resulting from the Green Ghana Agenda.
The CSO is further asking the government of Ghana to fastrack tree tenure reforms, including tree registration to secure farmers’ ownership of planted and nurtured trees, and enhance forest law enforcement to curtail factors that deplete forest and tree resources.
