Five hundred acres of forest reserve created in Talensi-Nabdam under FMNR

Tongo(UE), July 28, GNA - About five hundred acres of forest reserve have been created in the Talensi-Nabdam District of the Upper East Region within two and a half years under the Farmer Managed and Natural Regeneration (FMNR) programme.

This came to light when an officer from World Vision Australia, Mr Peter Weston visited the Talensi-Nabdam Area, to conduct preliminary evaluation on the project implementation and to present the findings to stakeholders at Tongo on Thursday.

Mr Weston said the trees, counted by the Forest Commission, were up to 500,000. The project which begun in the area in 2009 trains farmers in the pruning technique of FMNR, where farmers select and trim naturally grown shrubs and stumps and allow them to grow into trees.

He noted that he was happy about the widespread acceptance of FMNR in crop lands. “This could imply an additional 3000 acres or more of farmland under FMNR, with densities around 50 to 100 trees per acre”.

Mr Weston stated that about a quarter of residents in the area had tried improved compost and that there was widespread acceptance of the use of crop residues as fertilizer on the farms. “Farmers adopt sound natural resource management practices. All pilot communities have developed local laws to support good environmental management. All pilot communities have re-established fire-fighting volunteers, embraced by the communities.”

Mr Weston said the FMNR Project also gave supplementary income to farmers in the area of bee keeping, bullock farming, fruit gathering and sale and improved seeds among others. It had taken most of the farmers off from causing activities that were likely to jeopardise the environment, he added.

Mr Weston noted that as a result of the sound natural resource management practices by the farmers, there were abundant fruits in the wet season due to bushfire suppression. "I am told children in the communities can now get more fruits to eat now than before", he said.

He indicated that soil quality and yields were also improving as a result of the improved composting, creating volumes of organic fertilizer. He expressed optimism that Talensi-Nabdam Area would be the centre of excellence of the FMNR and indicated that it was one of the best when it comes to sound natural resource management practices and encouraged the farmers to work efficiently to attain the set objective.

Mr Stephen Endem Akpalu, an officer of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana appealed to policy makers to infuse the FMNR into Forestry Commission Programme activities.

Mr Robert Dery, Bolgatanga Municipal Director of Forestry Department called on hunters to stop killing hares, partridges and other endangered species in the months of August and December since that was their breeding period.

Mr Noble Akolbire, Manager of World Vision in charge of Talensi-Nabdam assured the farmers that his outfit would continue to provide them with the needed technical support and entreated them to scale up their farms on the FMNR.

The Chiefs, Tindamas, Assembly members, Staff of the Forestry Commission, the Ghana Fire Service, the Police, Ghana Education Service among other stakeholders pledged their unflinching support for the continuation and expansion of the project across the area and in the region as a whole.

Farmers in Yameriga, Tongo-Beo, Yinduri, Wakii, Balungu, Shia, Sepaat, Namolgo and Yagzore in the Talensi-Nabdam are practicing FMNR and are being given technical support and training by the Talensi-Nabdam Area Development Programme of World Vision.

GNA