By Ewoenam Kpodo
Ho, Jan. 22, GNA- Mr John Parker Atingah, Park Manager, Kalakpa Resource Reserve has called for support and collaboration of all stakeholders to surmount hurdles in protecting and conserving the Park.
He said the only terrestrial protected area in the Volta Region was under threat from illegal activities of poachers and encroachers including hunting for animals, burning of charcoal and lumbering.
Speaking in an interview with Ghana News Agency, Mr Atingah narrated the difficult challenges officers and rangers faced in fighting these illegalities including trekking long distances on rugged terrain and in harsh weather conditions.
He noted that in the discharge of their field duties, they sometimes faced open confrontations from perpetrators of these illegalities which in some cases resulted in casualties, citing the case of the murder of Raphael Ganyo, a wildlife resource guard at the Reserve earlier this month.
“We need support with our logistics including bullet proof vests. For example, our deceased colleague, Raphael, was shot in the left chest. He would have survived had he worn a bullet proof vest.
We also need motorbikes for our field officers. Currently the Park has just one vehicle and that is for the Headquarters with no mode of transport for the four camps of the Reserve, divided into two ranges: Zitoe and Kpetsu Ranges for ease of management.”
The Park Manager talked about no internal roads and the attendant implication for their work while complaining about staff strength saying, ideally, a camp should have at least five officers, but none of the camps within the Reserve had up to five.
Mr Atingah called on traditional and community leaders and the citizens of Abutia and Adaklu especially, to join management of the Park in educating communities around the Reserve about the effects of their activities saying, among other things, it was in their best interest to protect the Reserve, citing impacts of forest ecology on farmlands including increased crop yields for fringe communities.
Kalakpa Resource Reserve covers about 32,020 hectares of land stretching from Abutia (Ho West) to Adaklu (Adaklu District) in the Volta Region, serving as home to rare animals including buffalos, bird species, and a variety of plants of economic importance.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Linda Asante Agyei