U/E/R: School Kids Bushfire Prevention Awareness Campaign launched at Talensi

School Kids Bushfire Prevention Awareness Campaign (SKBFAC) has been launched at the Gorogo Primary School in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, under the sub-theme “Bushfire Destroy Lives, You can prevent it.”

It was organized by the Forum for Natural Regeneration (FONAR), in partnership with the Ghana National Fire Service and the Talensi District Directorate of Education. The campaign will be rolled out in fifteen other schools across the Talensi District, as the dry and windy harmattan season approaches.

The launch is FONAR and its stakeholders' contribution to the success of 2022, and 2023 National Anti-Bushfire Campaign with the theme: My Environment, My Life: Stop Bush-fires Now”. FONAR is a Bolgatanga-based national environmental NGO dedicated to promoting Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), doing this through education, advocacy, community mobilization, capacity building, and fostering partnership with like-minded organizations and individuals.

Speaking to ModernGhana News at Gorogo, the Chief Executive Officer of FONAR Smaila Seidu Saaka said the sub-theme underscored that children contribute meaningfully to bushfire prevention in communities.

Mr. Saaka stated that children are the future and "the problems we have about bush-fires are behavioural and the easiest way to deal with behaviour is to tackle children because they are still young, they have less to think about. Once you inculcate in them that fire is dangerous, it can be controlled. Then we will be making headway in terms of addressing the perennial bush-fires that we have in Ghana."

Mr. Saaka stated FONAR’s focus is on children and the school echo clubs being implemented in the Talensi District, target the younger children, changing their minds at a younger age, which is termed the bottom-up approach. He added that FONAR is looking at different environmental issues that are common in the area and bushfire is one of them.

The Divisional Officer Grade 3, DOIII Mohammed Musah who schooled the pupils on the rudiment of bush-fires explained that the GNFS has the mandate of preventing and managing undesired fires. He indicated that they do this through education, sensitization, durbars, joint program, and collaboration with their stakeholders one of which is FONAR and schools echo clubs under the Talensi District Education Directorate.

Dealing with the children, he stated are the future leaders, and giving them training at an early age means they will grow up being conscientised.