CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS VOW TO PROTECT FORESTS (NOV 3, PAGE 14)

A Coalition of civil society organisations in the Kadjebi and Jasikan districts of the Volta Region have resolved to take stringent steps to protect the remaining forest reserves and the biological diversity in the two areas from all forms of abuse and exploitation.
This was as a result of the fact that various factors had over the years contributed to the fast depletion of the forest resources and the excessive degradation of the vegetation.
These were contained in a 12-point resolution issued after a three-day capacity building workshop on natural resources and environmental governance for some selected members of the various organisations .
The workshop, which attracted about 50 participants, including 12 females, was organised by the Jasikan District Civil Society Organisation (ADJASCO), in collaboration with CARE International.
The participants discussed various human activities, including over-exploitation of the forest and wildlife, indiscriminate disposal of waste materials, stone quarrying, sand winning, as well as the menace of bushfires, which were fast destroying the environment.
The resolution urged the two district assemblies to rigidly enforce existing bye-laws on chainsaw operations, hunting, charcoal burning and sand winning, and review them periodically.
It also called for the enforcement of bye-laws on hunting during the gestation period of animals, from July to September, and the use of unauthorised fishing nets, including use of poisonous chemicals in fishing in the area.
The resolution also called on the assemblies to collaborate with the Forestry Services Division and the Forestry Commission to effectively protect forest resources and reserves, and to also encourage formation of environmental clubs in all junior high schools.
“The assemblies should empower its sub-committee responsible for bush fire prevention to revisit formation of community fire volunteer squads, and to provide logistics for their effective operation,” it noted.
It recommended that where none of such bye-laws existed, they should be put in place to act as a safeguard against a bleak future.
The participants also called on the Town and Country Planning Department to collaborate with the Town Planning Committees of the district assemblies to ensure proper planning of towns and communities in order to check excessive erosion and haphazard development.
Also, this is to ensure easy vehicular and pedestrian movement, especially in times of disaster.