Rawlings Launches National Forest Week

Kintampo (B/A), July 11, - President Jerry Rawlings today expressed regret at the nation's dwindling forest and invited the private sector to invest in large scale commercial plantations. "Alongside cocoa, we must be thinking of wawa, mahogany and other red woods," he said. The President said this when he launched the 1997 National Forest Week at Kintampo. The theme was "Grow Trees to Sustain the Forest and Mankind". President Rawlings said for private sector participation in industrial tree plantation to be effective, there is the need for some legal reforms. "We may have to revisit the question of land acquisition as well as to clarify tenure arrangements and cutting rights". He said the new timber rights bill currently under consideration and its subsequent regulations would address some of these issues. President Rawlings said if the private sector took up the challenges it would allow the forestry department to concentrate on sustainable management of the remaining forest. Ultimately, the new plantations could replace the dependency of timber industries on the natural forest. He therefore appealed to stools and skins to make land available for these reafforestation and afforestation schemes and, more importantly, to participate in their implementation. President Rawlings said Kintampo was chosen for this year's function because of its location. "It is regarded as the border area between the advancing Sahara from the north and the diminishing forest from the south. "It will serve as a forceful reminder of the threat of desertification and the need to preserve our forest resources". President Rawlings said the ancestors of Kintampo recognized the town's importance and established a monkey sanctuary of Buabeng and Fiema. He said they might have used myths and superstition to force the people to comply but "their intentions were noble". "It is therefore our duty to sustain their efforts and to build on it." The President who launched last year's programme at Somanya, said the tree planting has caught on in the area. "A number of tree planting groups have sprang up and private sector investment and plantation development have also increased," he said. In his welcoming address, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr David Osei-Wusu said the region needs peace to develop and cautioned the people against all acts that retard progress. The minister advised the people to let truth and sobriety be their watch word in all their endeavours to ensure steady progress.