Forestry Commission Moves to Restore Forest Reserve Landscape

As part of efforts to advance public private partnership by the Government of Ghana, the Forestry Commission has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with four stakeholders to restore the Tain Forest Reserve in the Brong Ahafo Region.

The parties include Form Ghana Limited, Form International BV, the Berekum Traditional Council and the Berekum Municipal Assembly.

The agreement signed in Accra on Tuesday, also forms part of the Forestry Commission’s mandate to ensure sustainable management of Ghana’s forests.

This according to the Forestry Commission, is a pilot intervention covering an area of approximately 2,000 hectares.

A joint statement signed by the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey and Managing Director of Form Ghana, Willem Fourie read; “as agreed in the MOU signed today, pilot interventions will focus mainly on community owned and managed land fringing the Tain II Forest Reserve”, according to the statement.

It further stated that; “parties have committed to increase tree cover and make agriculture and forestry more sustainable and more profitable, provide enhanced social and economic perspectives to local communities and businesses, make the local communities more resilient to external threats such as climate change, improve the governance of the landscape to achieve good land stewardship, reduce wildfire risk, combat forest encroachment and illegal logging and enhance biodiversity and nature values for present and future generations”, the statement added.

The MOU covers a four-year period, from 2017 to 2021, for phase I and it is expected to cost $6Million. It is being supported by partnership for forests, a Department for International Development, UK (DFID) programming.

However, it is envisaged that after a successful first term, a revised agreement will be signed which will extend the agreement for a further four years.

The Tain II Forest Reserve, which is located in the Brong Ahafo Region, has been degraded through wildfires and illegal forest activities which have reduced the reserve’s ability to supply timber and other forest products for the forestry sector and local population.

The Forest Reserve and fringe areas therefore need urgent attention as in its current state, biodiversity is at risk, quality of current agriculture and forest plantations is low, and the reserve experiences wild fires among other threats.

By: Abdel-Hanan Adam