By Emelia B. Addae
Koforidua, May 27, GNA – Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has urged personnel of the Forest Service Division of the Forestry Commission (FC) to discharge their mandate dispassionately in accordance with the FC regulations.
He said, the government would fully support the personnel to discharge their duties in protecting Ghana’s forest without fear or favour.
It would also support them to ward off all intruders, whether illegal miners, agricultural expansionists, cocoa farmers, or illegal loggers.
“The government is aware of the challenges such as welfare, training and inadequate logistics, and the dangers you encounter in ensuring that our country remains green. We are working around the clock to be able to meet up with the challenges,” he said.
Mr Jinapor was speaking at a tape-cutting cutting ceremony at the Eastern Regional Office Complex of the Forest Service Division of the Commission in Koforidua.
The facility consists of a reception, conference room, kitchenette, stores, and 13 offices.
It will be responsible for managing seven Forest Districts namely: Akim Oda, Kyebi, Kade, Somanya, Begoro, Mpraeso and Donkorkrom.
Mr Jinapor charged the staff to maintain the infrastructure in a way that would allow it to serve not only the region but also the entire nation.
He said issues of forests have become prominent in the governance of the country and the affairs of the world at large, adding that, one of the major existential threats to planet Earth is climate change.
That, he said, the government’s policy with regard to the forestry sector was based on two pillars: the strategy of aggressive afforestation and reforestation and the strategy to protect the existing forest cover of the country.
He stated that these two pillars were the approaches being taken to protect the existing forest cover of the country.
Mr John Allotey, Chief Executive Officer of the Commission highlighted the benefits of protecting the forests reserves, citing an example that the main river Pra takes its source from the Southern Scarp FR in the Kwahu Plateau and flows over 240km square into the Atlantic Ocean at Shamma.
Together with its tributaries- River Birim and River Ofin, the Pra Basin covers 41 administrative districts in four regions of Ghana -Ashanti, Eastern, Central and Western Regions providing wetlands and water for agriculture, drinking and other domestic uses.
He said Eastern Region has 49 reserves covering an area of 1887km square
Speaking about 2023 Greening Ghana Day which falls on June 09, Mr Allotey said the Forest Services Division of Eastern Region had raised enough seedlings to meet its target of 300,000, and that seedlings would be available at the Regional and all Forestry District offices.
Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II, Board Chairman of the Forestry Commission said it had been the focus of the government to preserve the forest because “that is where we all take our livelihood. It is in this vision that the government provided the office complex to ensure a smooth run of activities.”
GNA