Brong-Ahafo FSD Manager calls for revival of fire volunteer squads

Mr Thomas Okyere, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Manager of the Forestry Services Division (FSD), has called for the revival of the defunct fire volunteer mobilisation squads and formation of new ones in the communities.

He said the operations of the squads have gone down because of lack of logistics and incentives for them but their existence in the communities was very essential because of their role in preventing indiscriminate bush burning in the area.

This had a positive effect on the protection and sustainability of the existing forest reserves and growing tree plantations in the region, the Regional FSD Manager said, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani.

Mr Okyere appealed to non-governmental organisations, public-spirited individuals and philanthropists to assist with the provision of the necessary resources for the revival and formation of the squads to complement the work of the Ghana National Fire Service in saving not only the nation’s forest but other natural resources from destruction.

He expressed concern about the shortfall in the general staff strength of the Forestry Commission (FC), saying that the FSD alone had a greater percentage of the shortage, particularly forest guards (FGs) and technical officers (TOs) in the region.

Mr Okyere said with the staff shortage notwithstanding, the FSD was making the effort in protecting the existing forests while reforesting degraded forest areas.

It would be a major solution to forest degradation in the country, he said, if the chiefs and people realised the values of the forest and the need to protect the remaining forest reserves and new ones, coupled with their active involvement in the reforestation project.

He appealed to the populace to assist the FSD by exposing the illegal chainsaw operators and other perpetrators of forest degradation acts.

Mr Okyere commended the efforts of Mr Ernest Kwarteng, the Tano North District Chief Executive (DCE), and the Military Command of the Third Battalion of Infantry (3BN) in Sunyani for providing logistics and personnel to prevent the menace of wanton destruction of the forest through illegal chainsaw operations in the Tano North and South Districts.

He said Mr Kwarteng did not only provide a Nissan Pick-Up vehicle, a driver and fuel as and when necessary but also an accommodation at Yamfo in the District to house the armed military task force for them to be closer to the forest reserves.

Mr Okyere said the effort has yielded positive results because the illegal chainsaw operators in the Bechem Forest District, particularly at Yamfo, Bomaa, Duayaw-Nkwanta and its environs were finding it difficult to engage in the illegal and indiscriminate felling of trees in recent months because of the effective monitoring by the task force.

He said there is the need for tree planting to be encouraged among the people adding that Brong-Ahafo had the potential to restore of its degraded forest land areas.

He said the free-supply of seedlings for tree planting by the FSD under the Forest Investment Programme (FIP) being jointly funded by the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the Government of Ghana, is currently underway.

Mr Okyere said spanning five years, the project was in its third year at the pilot stage in the Brong-Ahafo and Western Regions and appealed to individuals or interested groups to approach any FSD District office for supplies and technical advice on tree planting efforts.

He expressed optimism that Ghana could prevent the fast depletion of the forest if the citizenry in diverse ways supported government agencies and institutions mandated with the task to protect and manage the resources for sustainable use by the present generation for the benefit of posterity.