The Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey has indicated that the lack of resources is a major handicap in preventing illegalities in forest reserves in the country.
Speaking at the Forestry Commission’s Chief Executive’s briefing and Staff recognition awards in Takoradi, he noted that the activities of illegal mining and logging in the forest reserves continue to be a major challenge though the commission is doing its best through the implementation of the Rapid Response Team under the Forestry Services Commission to clamp down on the menace.
They however lack the needed resources, he stressed.
“The key challenge confronting us today is how to combat the issue of illegal mining. Though our Rapid Response team is doing so well, we need to equip them, (because)they have limited logistics to be able to move in their numbers and run multiple operations at the same time.
“So this area we will need support from the board and the management to develop some programs that will yield more funds that will be able to resource some of these units”,
he stated.
The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Forestry, Benito Owusu Bio who was the special guest commended the commission for its support to the government’s Green Ghana projects. He said through their assistance, Ghana has been able to plant over 21 million seedlings which is unprecedented in the country’s history.
“Since the launch of the Green Ghana project in 2021 as part of the Government’s effort to restore our degraded landscape and contribute to the global effort against climate change, over forty-one million seedlings of various plant species have been planted across the country.
“According to your own data from 2017 to 2023, in the history of Ghana no president has planted more trees than this government since independence “, he said.
Meanwhile, the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah has urged the Commission to pay particular attention to bamboo plantation as it can be an alternative to timber.
“We believe that Bamboo can also be an alternative to the normal timber species that we have. If you go to China and other countries they are able to use bamboo to eradicate poverty, and we believe that it is time for the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to raise funds for forest plantation, raise some money for machinery so that as we have bamboo we process it for hard use and into other products”.