Forestry Commission blames human activities for destruction of over 100 forest reserves

The Ghana Forestry Commission has blamed human activities for the destruction of over 100 forest reserves in the country.

Director of Forestry Services Division, Raphael Appiah said activities such as hunting and smoking razed the forest reserves rendering many Ghanaians jobless.

He disclosed this at a meeting by the Commission to assess the extent of damage caused by human activities in the country.

Fire related activities have resulted in the destruction of forest reserves in the country. Reserves such as Bomfobri in the Ashanti region, Kokorsua in the Western region and Achimota forest in the Greater Accra Region have all been tampered with.

Speaking to Joy News ahead of the completion of the assessment, Appiah said considering the evidence before the Commission, it appeared “almost half out of the 230 forest reserves have been burnt.”

He explained, “We have hunters, tappers, and farmers who go to the farm with naked fire to make their food end up forgetting to put their fire off.”

Though Appiah shares the belief that natural fire in the form of lightening could result in such fires, he believed “90 percent of the fire are caused by human activities.”

“As at now we have 230 forest reserves across the country, but this year our record so far in terms of the assessment indicate over 100 of the forest were affected by fire,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Central Region is said to have recorded the least number of bush fires over the period.

Commenting on the success, the Regional Forestry Manager, Ebenezer Dzagbletey attributed the achievement to the collaboration between the Commission and the media.

He asserted, “We gave out jingles we prepared and they have been playing well before the fire season. So I think that had helped us so the Central Region thankfully did not witness significant fire issue.”

“I attribute that success to the jingles we started. Atlantic FM is able to the jingle six times a day for three months,” he said.