Forum advocates for funding for good forest governance

Mr. Kwame Asamoah-Dwomoh, President of National Forest Forum (NFF), has appealed to the government to provide permanent source of funding for civil society to promote good forest governance to save the environment.

Mr. Asamoah-Dwomoh made the call on Tuesday at Jema in Kintampo South District at a forum organised and sponsored by NFF for stakeholders, as part of the celebration of the World Environment Day (WED).

He said there could not be development in the country without proper management of the environment, since the country depended on the environment for all activities, especially farming.

Mr. Asamoah-Dwomoh expressed the fear that the country’s forest resources constituting the source of livelihood for about 70% of Ghanaians was dwindling at an alarming rate.

He said a survey conducted by the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy indicated that, the country’s forest cover had reduced from 8.2 million hectares to 1.7 million hectors in less than 100 years.

Mr. Asamoah-Dwomoh said the only way out of environmental degradation and associated hazards was the concept of participatory resource management, where all stakeholders are involved in the management of resources.

He said even though government had adopted initiatives in the forest sector to improve efficiency, protect the forest resource and help reduce poverty in the rural communities that especially depended on forest resources for livelihood, its effectiveness would depend on the level of awareness of stakeholders to save the environment.

Mr. Attah Yeboah, National Secretary of the NFF, said climate change had negative implications on the environment, particularly its effects on human health due to the excessive heat being experienced in the country.

He entreated on all to desist from negative practices such as indiscriminate cutting down of trees, burning of charcoal, setting of bush fires and bad farming practices to protect the environment.**