... to the socio-ecoonmic development of the country
Professor Dominic Fobih, Honourable Minister for Lands and Forestry has said in London that the forestry and wildlife sub-sector is of paramount importance to the socio-economic development of the country.
As the bedrock of the rural economy, Professor Fobih observed that the forestry sector provides a source of livelihood and animal protein for many rural communities and sustenance for all species of wildlife.
Professor Dominic Fobih made the observations in an address read on his behalf by Mr. Kwabena Baah-Duodu, Acting Ghana's High Commissioner to the UK, during the Bushmeat Campaign Conference held at the Zoological Society of London on the theme ‘Sustainable Bushmeat Trade – Key Policy Options’.
The Conference which sought to build on the Ministerial Declaration of African Forest Law Enforcement and Governance, considered best practices for managing bushmeat and wildlife in the forest zone in West and Central Africa.
The Honourable Lands and Forestry Minister said that the thrust of government’s reforms in the sector reflects its commitment to arrest the rapid decimation of the forest and facilitate the accelerated and sustained development of the rural sector.
He explained that the Community Resources Management Area (CREMA) was developed to encourage farmers to integrate wildlife management into current land use practices and to enable them to benefit directly from wildlife in support of Government's poverty alleviation policy.
Touching on other interventions initiated by the Government, the Lands and Forestry Minister stated that as a result of the establishment of Protected Areas Management Advisory Boards and Community Forest Committees nationwide, it is anticipated that eco-tourism would yield over $1.5m for the country by 2008.
On the sub-regional front, Professor Fobih stated that efforts were underway to develop appropriate protocols for co-operation in the development of trans-border corridors with the nation’s neighbours for the preservation of Mole, Bia and Kyabobo National Parks.
The Minister observed that the identification, promotion and financing of better economic opportunities for communities depended on forest and wildlife resources to reduce illegal activities and lessen pressure on productive landscapes.
He also emphasised that it was vital for support to be garnered for the development and implementation of home grown policies that would lead to the achievement of sustainable forest and wildlife management.
Concluding, Professor Fobih stressed the need to review with our development partners, the effects of economic reform programmes on forest and wildlife law enforcement and governance with the aim of strengthening law enforcement agencies like the Customs, Excise and Preventive service, the Police Service etc.
In his address at the Bushmeat Campaign Conference, the Okyenhene noted that uncontrolled human activity had destroyed, depleted and degraded the environment which had further impoverished and worsened the plight of many rural communities in Africa.
Osagyefuo said the forest in Africa was under siege from greedy mining concerns, timber companies, illegal chainsaw operators and bushmeat traders and called for a radical attitudinal change to protect wildlife and bio-diversity.
Alluding to the success of Community Environment Protection Brigade he established in his traditional area, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin pointed out that the momentum of the crusade against environmental degradation could only be sustained through the provision of employment opportunities and alternative livelihood for the rural unemployed.
He stated that ‘dedication, education and financial investment were required to preserve the natural habitat for the promotion of eco-tourism and announced that the Global Environment facility of the World Bank had pledged financial assistance for the development of the sector in Okyeman.
‘Through advocacy, awareness creation, research and effective partnership with rural communities and relevant stakeholders, we can make a difference in the lives of our people’ declared the Okyenhene.
On his part, Chief Clarkson Oben Tanyi-Mbianyor Minister for Environment and Forestry said bushmeat provides sustenance for a significant proportion of rural communities and advised that conservation strategies should find the right balance between the requirements of these communities and wildlife.
Ghana Government’s delegation to the Conference was led by Mr. Kwabena Baah-Duodu, Ghana’s Acting High Commissioner to the UK, Mr. Fredua Agyemang, Technical Director, Ministry of Lands and Forestry; Mr. Ofori Frimpong, Acting Executive Director of Wildlife, Ministry of Lands and Forestry; Ms. Gytha Nuno, Member of Ghana Forestry Commission, Mr. Alhassan-Attah, Manager, Ghana Forestry Commission, London.
Other dignitaries present at the Conference were Honourable Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, DFID, Honourable Barry Gardiner, both British Members of Parliament, Mr. Enzo Barattini, Head of Agricultural and Environmental Development, European Union and Mr. Adam Matthews, Director of Bushmeat Campaign.
