Accra, Dec.16, GNA-The Forestry Commission (FC), as part of its plan, intends to review the Act (Act 571) to transform the Commission into a paramilitary institution.
The transformation will also restructure and reposition the Commission to be more effective in confronting current and future challenges while leveraging growth opportunities.
The Commission will enact a legislative instrument to operationalize the Wildlife Resources Management Act, 2023 (Act 1115).
Dr Hugh C. A. Brown, the Chief Executive FC speaking at the annual press briefing in Accra, said the Commission planned to consolidate the gains made in 2025 and address emerging challenges in the sector.
He said the Commission would introduce the Forest Protection Camps for Forest Reserves and Rehabilitation of Field Camps within Wildlife Protected Areas to improve law enforcement.
“We intend to streamline the operations and resource FSD and TIDD checkpoint system across the country (review and implement recommendations of multi-divisional committee).
He said the FC would develop and implement a Payment for Ecosystem Service scheme to support forest conservation and restoration.
Dr Brown said the Commission would launch and implement the revised Ghana Forest Landscape Restoration Strategy in the first half of 2026, drawing on lessons learned from the implementation of the Tree for Life Reforestation Initiative (T4L).
Under the T4L initiative, a total area of 65,964 hectares has benefited from restoration interventions through public and private sector efforts.
The achievement includes the establishment of 17,133.6 hectares of forest plantations, enrichment planting of 1,830.9 hectares, and distribution of over 1.5 million tree seedlings for planting on an estimated 47,000 hectares of farmland.
Also, the Forestry Commission has distributed 1.4 million tree seedlings to the general public for amenity planting in June and July.
Cumulatively, 26.1 million tree seedlings have been planted nationwide under the T4L initiative through public and private interventions.
He said the T4L initiative had resulted in the creation of over 41,000 green jobs through government-led initiatives, including the recruitment of 2,500 Youth Forest Champions as well as the engagement of 20,422 Modified Taungya System farmers and 18,535 persons in tree seedling production.
The Commission, with the support of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, has adopted a four-pronged strategy to address the menace.
Dr Brown said the Commission had strengthened law enforcement and the mining regulatory regime and reclaimed and reforested mined-out sites within forest reserves, among others, to combat illegal mining.
He said various law enforcement operations carried out by the Commission with the support of the military within forest reserves since March resulted in the seizure of 199 excavators, 21 vehicles, four bulldozers, and 227 pumping machines, among others.
The Chief Executive said Ghana became the first African country and the second globally, after Indonesia, to issue Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) licenses for the export of legally sourced timber to the European Union market.
This was possible following the ratification of 131 Timber Utilization Contracts by the Parliament of Ghana on 23rd July, 2025.
Dr Brown said ongoing donor-funded projects being implemented by the Commission include the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme, the Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project, and others.
GNA
Edited by Christian Akorlie