Government urged to rescue Kalakpa Resources Reserve from destruction

The Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS), the Kalakpa Club and the Abutia Development Union have jointly called on the government to take actions towards ending the ‘illegality’ happening in the Kalakpa Resources Reserve.

The three stakeholders urged government in a media conference on Wednesday in Accra, to as a matter of urgency, investigate and prosecute perpetrators of illegal logging activities as it has the potential to engender serious detriment to forest sustainability.

The Kalakpa Resources Reserve is located in the Volta Region of Ghana and was designated a wildlife protected area in 1975 pursuant to the Wildlife Reserve (Amendment) Regulations (L.I. 1022) serving as a habitat for more than 270 species of birds, buffaloes, river-hogs, monkeys and it attracts thousands of tourists annually.

Mr Faisal Elias, the Policy and Advocacy Officer at the GWS, said the logging activities in the Kalakpa nature reserve was an affront to the laws of Ghana, adding that the environmental destruction caused by the illegal activities created a negative perception of the timber industry.

He said: “It is violation of the Forest Protection Act, 1974, the Trees and Timber Act, 1974, the Timber Resource Management Act 1988, the Timber Resource Management and Legality Licensing Regulation, 2017 and other related laws governing the forest and timber sector in the country”.

Mr Elias said there was the urgent need for the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to investigate the illegal logging activities happening in the reserve, adding that “the Forestry Commission and the Ministry must intervene to reassure the protection of the nature reserve”.

He, however, commended the Ministry for placing a ban on the harvesting and trade of rosewoods, but urged stakeholders especially the Forestry Commission to ensure the implementation of the ban.

Mr Horlali Yaw Haligah, the Executive Director of Kalakpa Club, said Kalakpa had become the home to bands of violent and aggressive settlers who make a living by happily damaging the reserve in a free-for-all display of lawlessness.

He said some activities of the settlers in the reserve included destruction of wildlife, poaching and threatening forestry guards with impunity, noting that a guard was killed in 2016.

Mr Haligah said the Kalakpa nature reserve is known for rosewoods, which has high demand and value globally, adding that the tonnes of rosewoods exported from Ghana last year alone amounted to 7.65 million Euros.

“We have in our possession a video of an eyewitness account of forestry officials involved actively in illegal logging at the reserve,” he said.

He urged Parliament to consider more efficient measures of regulating and enforcing the National ban on Rosewood as current ones had proven very ineffective.

Mr Haligah urged the International Community and development organisations not to forget Kalakpa and assist in effort to preserve the nature reserve for posterity.

On his part, Mr Seth Esahe, the Vice Chairman of the Abutia Development Union (ADU), called for a massive reforestation project to be embarked on in the area to regain the lost forest cover as a matter of urgency.

He said there was the need for Government to implement the Community Resource Management Area initiative in Kalakpa towards engaging more local communities in the oversight and management of the Kalakpa nature reserve.

He said the people of Abutia would demand for the release of their part of the land in the reserve if government failed to take the necessary actions to preserve the nature reserve and place it under the management of ADU, a Non-Governmental Organisation and other stakeholders.