Chief calls for law to back protection of Mangrove trees

Sankore (C/R) Aug. 14 GNA - The chief of Sankore, near Winneba, Nana Kofi Tetteh III has called on the government to enact a law that would help protect the Wetlands and mangrove trees along the Coastal belt of the country. According to the chief because there is nolaw backing the protection of the Mangrove Trees in the Wetlands in the country, offenders caught destroying the mangrove trees in his area could not be made to face any law.

Nana Tetteh made the call at a three-day National workshop on management of Coastal and Wetlands Resources under the theme, "creating awareness in coastal communities on the values of marine resources." It was organised by Resource and Environmental Development Organisation (REDO) and sponsored by the United Nation Development Programme and the United Nation Office for Project Service (UNOPS) More than sixty participants, made up of officials from the Department of Fisheries, Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Science and Environment and some coastal residents from Denu to Half Assini attended the workshop.

Nana Tetteh said that following the protection of the trees, fish in the lagoon near the town have increased in numbers and sizes, adding that this was assisting the people financially. He said the Wetlands and Mangrove trees play important role not only in the protection of the coastal belt, but also serve as habitats for birds and fishes.

He commended the REDO for educating the people to protect the mangrove trees, which he said, was helping the community and its nearby towns to protect the environment. The Nkwosuohene of Nsuekyir, Nana Obir Akon II, briefing the workshop on some of the gains they have derived from the protection of the mangrove trees, said some dangerous insects that were disturbing the people of the town when they destroyed the trees have gone back to the trees after their re-vegetation.