Ten watchdog committees have been formed in 10 communities on the fringes of the Kabo River Forest Reserve within the Jasikan and Kadjebi districts of the Volta Region.
This is to help control the spread of bush fires and uncontrolled exploitation of the forest resources.
The formation of the watchdog committees is in line with the bye-laws adopted by the Association of Jasikan District Civil Society Organisations (AJADSCO), in collaboration with the KASA Project, to forestall the massive degradation of the eco-system and to conserve the forest and the wildlife.
According to the Co-ordinator of the KASA Project, Mr George Gyapong, AJDASCO, in collaboration with CARE International, had instituted the KASA Project with the aim of implementing a natural resource and environmental governance (NREG) programme to reduce the incidence of bush fires and illegal harvesting of forest resources.
He said the communities are Atonkor, Kudje, Worawora, Apesokubi, Kabosu, Asukwakwa, Guaman, Wawaso and Katanga.
Mr Gyapong said the watchdog committees were formed out of the existing three groups in the communities, namely the Fire Volunteer Squads, the Forest Management Committees and the School-based Environmental Clubs.
He said it formed part of the efforts being made by AJADSCO to sensitise stakeholders in the northern part of the Volta Region to reduce the rate of environmental degradation and improve governance of the natural resources on a sustainable basis.
In line with this, he said a one-day sensitisation workshop on natural resources and environmental governance for selected stakeholders was recently held at Jasikan.
It brought together 50 participants, including officials of the Jasikan District Assembly, churches, traditional authorities, chain saw operators and saw mill owners.
According to Mr Gyapong, the committees would ensure effective reduction of human-induced factors such as bush fires, indiscriminate harvesting of wood and hunting of animals, leading to environmental degradation.
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