Stiffer punishment for people degrading forest advocated

Wassa-Ayiem (W/R), Feb. 17, GNA - Nana Kansa Ababio, chief of Adjakaamanso in the Western Region, has called for stiffer punishment for people degrading the forest.

He said such a measure could help stop the impunity with which illegal chainsaw operators, small scale miners, farmers and timber contractors were destroying forest reserves.

Nana Ababio was contributing to a discussion at a public forum organized by the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai District Forest Service Division of the Forestry Commission, at Wassa Ayiem. It formed part of efforts at encouraging people, especially those in the forest communities to protect forest reserves. Nana Ababio called on the people to report people engaging in illegal activities in the forests to the security agencies, adding that "Let us all accept the responsibility of protecting the nation's vegetative cover". Mr. Ernest Nkansah Kwarteng, District Manager of the Forest Service Division of the Forestry Commission, said the "disturbing" and fast-paced destruction of the Upper Wassaw Forest Reserve should be halted. He lamented that illegal miners popularly called "galamsey operators" have laid siege of the reserve, digging deep trenches, cutting down trees and polluting the Ankobra River.

Ghana's forest cover of 8.2 million hectares as at 1900 has shrunk to about 1.6 million hectares and as part of measures to salvage the situation, President John Atta Mills on Wednesday, January 20, launched the National Forest Plantation Programme at Abofour in the Ashanti Region to re-plant denuded forest reserves and "off-reserve areas".