(Being Theme of the 2006 World Environment Day)
“Our forests, our trees, our rivers and lakes are not commodities we can abuse. We do not owe the land; we hold it in trust for generations yet unborn. We inherited it at our birth, a beautiful land, blessed with thick forests, precious minerals and varied animals. We have a right to make use of these and other natural gifts to enhance the quality of our lives. But we do not have the right to degrade our once forest lands into deserts just because we want to sell more timber. Nor do we have the right to denude our lands and seas and rivers of the animals and fishes indiscriminately. Let us learn to take care of the environment…”
…President Kufuour (Forum, 2001)
Vegetation such as forests has had a great significance both to the economy and ecology of Ghana. In the economic sense, forests have been a major export product before the advent of cocoa contributing almost 80% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Even, with the advent of cash crops such as cocoa and mineral resources, forest products still contribute substantially to GDP of Ghana. In fact, it is recorded that timber trade contributed a whooping amount of US$100 million to the 1988 GDP of Ghana.
In the ecology sense, forests played and still play a vital role in balance of ecological process that helps to maintain nature and recycling of natural resources. Forest vegetation, according to the UNFCCC implies: “a minimum area of land of 0.05 to 1.0 hectares with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10% to 30% with trees with the potential to reach a minimum height of 2 to 5 meters at maturity in situ. A forest may consist of either of closed forest formations where trees of various storeys and undergrowth cover a high proportion of the ground or open forest. Young natural stands and all plantations which have yet to reach a crown density of 10 to 30 percent or tree height of 2 to 5 meters are included under forest, as are areas normally forming part of the forest area which are temporarily unstocked as a result of human intervention such as harvesting or natural causes but which are expected to revert to forest…”
“Deserts and Desertification” been this year’s theme for world environmental day (WED) is rightly accompanied by the slogan “Don’t desert Drylands.” Last eighty days or so, the world celebrated the 2006 World Water Day (WWD) with the theme “water and culture.” I am inclined to think that the analysts pondered thoughtfully and ordered these environmental themes to suit the yearning of most developing countries, even the developed ones. Water is related to desertification in that improved water management can curb desertification. To show the strength of its importance, participants at the public forum held throughout the country on the 2005 Annual budget argued that while it is important to rehabilitate the existing irrigation scheme in the country, it would be equally desirable to initiate policies for the establishment of more irrigation schemes throughout the country. For instance, in Israel, human ingenuity through irrigation has resulted in the forestation of once desert lands reducing encroachment of deserts and desertification.
In Ghana, the major cause of desertification is indiscriminate felling of trees. Government’s energy price adjustments and increments become most important in this view. For instance, with continued increase in the price of LPG, there expectedly would be an increase in the number of trees for wood fuel. In fact, participants at the public forum on the 2005 Annual budget advocated for a downward review of the price of LPG to reduce the demand for wood fuel and preserve the forest. In the past years, government programmes have contributed to the loss of Ghana’s forest and its resources. For instance, the 1983 Economic Recovery Programme of government led to the loss of 95% of Ghana’s high forest, which resulted in land degradation, decreased biodiversity, desertification and shrinking of the natural carbon sinks (Anane, 2005). Forestation and adequate water management constitute an integral part of millennium development goals (MDGs), which Ghana is a party to. It then implies that as part of Ghana’s dream to cruise into a middle-income nation by 2015, we must not only see the need for replanting our empty lands, but also see this as part of a national developmental issue that should be part of our poverty reduction strategy. Another passive cause of desertification is drought, which acts by improving conditions that enhance desertification. This calls for committed action towards those areas such as Bolgatanga, which lack sufficient rainfall to support dense vegetation. With increased desertification, there is removal of forestry resources that support farming activities, which impact on the income of rural people in Ghana. Felling of trees has also resulted in increase in ambient temperatures in Ghana.
Affirmative Action: The role of government in curbing the menace of desertification cannot be over-emphasized. Firstly, through, the forestry commission, Ghana government can motivate forestry guards and organizations involved in tree planting with a ‘Certificate for Forestry Conservation’. Such honors may be set as a yardstick for other national awards like the “Best farmer of the Year Award”. Enactment of appropriate laws by government could promote recycling of waste paper through a variety of means, from increasing supply by encouraging consumers to segregate recyclables to increasing demand by having government preferentially purchase products with recycled content. Government support of energy efficient technologies can also substantially improve upon the vegetative cover of Ghana’s environment. For instance, Brazil has used the plant species known as Jatropha caucus as a “biofuel” to virtually replace petrol-using cars, etc. This very plant species, “Jatropha caucus” (local name: Akpateshie) grows favourably in Ghana. Government can partner with well-established farmers to start plantation farming for “Akpateshie”, probably on the vast unused landscapes in the Northern part of Ghana (including Upper West, Upper East, Northern regions). This would not only reduce the menace of desertification but also emphasize the Ghana’s commitment to “Greening Cities” that was the theme for 2005 World Environment Day. If the idea of this biofuel is realized, it could also substantially reduce vehicular emissions of Green House Gases solving a fundamental problem in Ghana—global warming.
Another important aspect of government action is poverty alleviation. Executive Secretary of the ‘United Nations Conference for Combating Desertification (UNCCD)’, Mr. Hama Arba Diallo revealed that: “The fight against desertification is a fight against poverty.” It has been asserted that poverty is both an agent and a consequence of forests degradation. As an agent, poverty constrains hunters to set vegetation on fire to obtain bush meat for commerce. Too, as an agent, poverty constrains people to indiscriminately fell trees in order to keep bone and flesh together. In fact, Maximus Attah’s Daily Graphic article of October 20, 2005 (titled “Curbing desertification to reduce poverty”) revealed that during that year some forest guards in were brutally murdered in the Nkwanta District of the Volta Region for trying to bring illegal chain-saw operators to order. It is evident that this extreme response to forest conservation can only be aroused by abject poverty. To reduce poverty, government has certain options. For instance, although the northern part of Ghana accounts for 40% of Ghana’s cultivable land area, it produces only 14% of the net agricultural produce in Ghana. Ghana Statistical Service Report 2001 posits that about 70% of the people in the northern part are employed in the agricultural sector whilst 20% are economically inactive; government can motivate these people into agriculture especially, the cultivation of Akpateshie to serve as a biofuel in Ghana. Therefore, today as we celebrate the 2006 WED, I advocate for a more sustainable approach to forest management in Ghana; for an approach that will lead to reduced environmental impact as we exploit our precious minerals; for an approach that will revive the economy of unemployed Ghanaians towards reforestation and increased agricultural production; for an approach that will lift the ‘20% economically inactive’ northerners from the shackles of peasant farming to the plentiful plantation cultivation of Akpateshie. The time for these actions is now.
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