$54 million lost through illegal forest activities

Ghana loses about 54 million dollars annually through the activities of illegal chainsaw operations in the forests as well as other nefarious activities which greatly threatened the economy.

Mr Kojo Wireko-Brobbey, a member of the Forestry Commission, who disclosed this, therefore, called for stiffer laws against illegal chainsaw operators and others, who destroyed the forests as a measure to forestalling the increasing depletion of the country's forests.

He was addressing a three-day Capacity Building Workshop for representatives of the Forestry Commission and Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) at Akyawkrom in the Ejisu-Juaben District on Wednesday.

Mr Wireko-Brobbey estimated that currently, the rate of deforestation stood at about 22,000 hectares a year.

The workshop organised by the Forestry Commission in collaboration with Ricera e Co-operazione, an Italian NGO, sought to bring together forestry and environmental NGOs to co-ordinate their activities in an effective manner to harmonise their knowledge on forestry issue.

It was also expected to provide the opportunity for a strong partnership and dialogue between the government, civil society and stakeholders in forestry and NGOs in the field of natural resources management.

Consequently, he called for regular public education in forest preservation to enhance public awareness of environmental degradation and also be part of government's initiative to combat the illegal chainsaw menace.

Mr Wireko-Brobbey said plans were underway to get the northern part of the country reforested to enrich the land.

Dr G. Da Re, a representative of Ricera e Co-operazione, expressed the hope that the participants would benefit greatly from the workshop and thereby supplement government's effort at combating the activities of destroyers of the forests.

She said the time had come for the forest to be reserved and protected since forests had a multiplying effect on the economy.