Deforestation on the rise in Northern Regions

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• Kofi 8 years ago

  In Ghana, we do not see the usefulness of trees to our own survival.Timber merchants have been destroying pristine forests in the western region for decades.

  In Ghana, we do not see the usefulness of trees to our own survival.Timber merchants have been destroying pristine forests in the western region for decades.

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• G. K. Berko 8 years ago

  Given that our Laws allow the Locals to enjoy some rights to extract various produce from the Reserves, we have existing Laws that guide against destructive use of the Forest produce.
  
  The existing Laws, if they were to be ...
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  Given that our Laws allow the Locals to enjoy some rights to extract various produce from the Reserves, we have existing Laws that guide against destructive use of the Forest produce.
  
  The existing Laws, if they were to be fully implemented by our Forest Officials and the Law Enforcement Agencies, are sufficient to protect the Forests. We would not need even any bye-Laws to ensure the protection intended by our Constitution.
  
  It all comes down to the willingness and commitment of the Officials to implement our Laws. Surely, once a case of infringement goes to the Police, the Forest Officers then feel their work is accomplished, and do not follow up to see the Law has been fully applied as expected. The Police and the Judiciary then have the freedom to manipulate the case as they deem convenient, and eventually, the culprits go free.
  
  Some of the Policemen and the Judges also exercise some wrong assessment of the people's need for the Forest produce, often misapplying sympathies for the people they see as impoverished and only trying to earn a living from such illegal activities.
  
  However, it is the ultimate interests of the Society and Country for which the Laws were created to manage the Forests that should take precedence.
  
  If Officials and the people fail to realize the bigger picture, we would then have to call for the total de-reservation of the Forest Estates, and the consequences would be lastingly devastating and impoverish the people even further.
  
  It is very sad that this Bawku area is one of the few relics of Forests existing in our Upper and Northern Regions. The Forest here has been environmentally very significant in providing the moderate stability of the Climate and Soil conditions in the Region and further down South into the Northern parts of the Volta Region.
  
  We must be very careful not to tip the balance further, or we would have a hard time restoring the conditions to anywhere near normal. The Highlands in Gambaga have been a natural rain producing Windward zone out of which the Forest grew to further sustain the moisturizing effect.
  
  If for the need of Energy, (Fuel Wood) we destroy the Forest, we would have a bare Mountain top that would dry up the Valleys and beyond and also increase the economic hardships of the People living there. The Government must therefore do more to help the People find fitting alternatives for fuel and other forms of Energy. In that case, the Forests would live to produce all the other resources in it as well for perpetual consumption.
  
  For the past two decades, our Governments have done next to nothing in conserving our Forests. Even our Artificial Forest Estates, the Plantations, have all been subjected to massive, irresponsible, unscheduled extraction by unlicensed Lumber folks.
  
  The devastation in the Opro and Afram Forest Reserves in the
  Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions have been unprecendented. The Reserves that once, and for long, offered an enviable High Tropical Forest Cover serving for huge sources of sustainable Timber and other Forest Produce, and Watershed for Rivers and streams serving Millions of people far and wide, have all been decimated. One could only believe that the Governments over these two decades have been totally negligent, if not even abating those encroachments into the Reserves to wrongly mitigate rising unemployment.
  
  
  Long Live Ghana!!!

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