WORKSHOP HELD ON FOREST CONSERVATION (PAGE 21, AUGUST 14, 2010)

A two-day training workshop on mountain forest conservation has begun at Hohoe in the Volta Region for some selected participants.
The workshop, organised by Together Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), was aimed at sharing ideas on how to conserve the 14,500 hectares or 57 square miles forest reserve established in 1929 but which is now degraded due to improper management.
The forest reserve, known as the Togo Plateau Protected Forest Reserve Area in the Volta Region, encompasses six ethnic communities. These communities are Santrokofi, Akpafu, Bowiri, Alavanyo, Nkonya and Gbi.
To check the deforestation and degradation of the reserve, Together Ghana, therefore, brought together 30 participants from the six communities to brainstorm on how to improve afforestation on the plateau, using civil society funding.
The Project Manager of Together Ghana, Mr John Elletey, told the Daily Graphic that a collaborative forest management scheme would be formed between the Forestry Service Division and the six forest fringe communities to complement efforts of the government.
Mr Elletey said over the years, the Forestry Service Division had been developing a sustainable forest reserve management plans to ensure that the best management and development activities were carried out on a sustainable basis but those plans had not been executed for lack of funding.
He said the workshop would serve as an eye opener to the participants to cherish the numerous benefits they stood to gain if the area was well protected from the wanton degradation it was facing at the moment.
The Project Manager said some of the benefits would enhance weather condition which would improve the quality of the flora and fauna in the area.
The participants were taken through topics such as the “Rationale for the establishment of the Togo Plateau Protected Reserve, Reserve Management Plan, Togo Plateau and biodiversity conservation and global warming.