Mr. Sam Nasamu Asabigi, Deputy Northern Regional Minister, has appealed to chiefs to stand firm in enforcing bye-laws on the prevention of bushfires and the destructive activities of alien Fulani herdsmen in their communities.
He said the government, the constitution and the laws of the country were fully behind them and they should therefore not hesitate in applying the law when it is aimed at protecting the environment. Mr. Asabigi said this at a two-day workshop organised for chiefs on the menace of bushfires in Northern Ghana in Tamale on Monday.
The workshop was collaboration between the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It was on the theme: “Integration of indigenous knowledge into bushfire management practices in Northern Ghana, the central role of traditional authorities and their communities”.
Mr. Asabigi said the annual deforestation rate in the country had been averaging 65,000 hectares per year since independence and that Ghana’s primary rainforest had been reduced by 90 percent. He said in 2010 the total forest area was 4,940,000 hectares adding that this was as a result of a number of factors including the activities of illegal chain saw operators and bush fires in some forest reserves.
The Deputy Minister called for stronger enforcement of forestry and wildlife policies and strategies to ensure that forest and wildlife resources were managed on economically sound principles. “Streamlining institutional responsibilities, strengthening inter-agency coordination and strict enforcement of policies and associated legislation on forestry will help ensure sustainable natural resource and bio-diversity conservation in the country”, Mr. Asabigi said.