Resources management programme launched

Elmina (Central Region), 24th June 99 -

Ghana is to spend 90 million dollars over ten years to protect, rehabilitate and manage national lands, forest and wildlife resources and increase incomes of owners of these resources.

Mrs. Christina Amoako-Nuama, Minister of Lands and Forestry, said this at the launching of the ''Natural Resources Management Programme" (NRMP) for a successful implementation of the programme at Elmina on Tuesday.

The programme, funded by the government of Ghana, the World Bank and other agencies has five components- high forest resource management, bio-diversity conservation, Savannah resources management, wildlife resource management and environmental management co-ordination.

Mrs. Amoako-Nuama said the programme would be carried out in three phases, the first covering a period of two years with the second and third each covering four years.

She said the purpose of the NRMP was to underwrite the implementation of the Forestry Development Master Plan (1996/2020) as well as the Forestry Protection Strategy and to support the implementation of the National Environmental Action Plan.

The Minister said the comprehensive programme would address major sectoral issues through project interventions.

Mrs. Amoako-Nuama said a total of 25.70 million dollars would be spent on the first phase of the five components while the second and third phases would take 37 million dollars and 27.30 million dollars respectively.

She said her ministry would be the lead agency for co-operation with the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Mines and Energy, Environment, Science and Technology and Local Government and Rural Development.

The principal beneficiaries of the programme, she said, would be the rural communities who own the resources while secondary beneficiaries would include the users of sustainable supplies from the resources.

In addition, global benefits would include maintenance of genetic diversity, conservation of endemic species, preservation of unique ecosystem and habitats and enhancement of the quality of the environment.

Mr Solomon Bekure, a representative of the World Bank group, said the group has continuously provided technical and financial support to the government and a host of other local partners in the natural resources management sector.

The group is looking forward to the strict enforcement of existing policies that would stem over exploitation of the country's forestry resources.