The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor has said government is commitment to preserve and protect Ghana’s forest cover.
The Minister indicated that, government has initiated strategies, to clamp down on illegal mining activities degrading the vegetation cover across the country.
He said, his Ministry through programs like the Green Ghana Project, the Forest Plantation Strategy, and other projects, is in motion to bring our lost forest back.
‘The Green Ghana Project started three years ago, and over 40 million trees have been planted nationwide’ he said.
Mr. Abu Jinapor was responding to questions on the floor of parliament when he was invited by Mr. Speaker to answer questions about the afforestation program by his ministry.
Mr Jinapor said, Ghana’s forest cover is 6.6 million hectares, of which 1.2 million hectares are closed forest and 5.4 million hectares are open forest, but the forest are however, threatened by criminal activities like mining and logging.
According to him, deforestation and forest degradation are not new problems for the nation, which has lost over 80% of its forest.
According to Mr. Jinapor, since 2014, Ghana has lost 35,000 acres of forest cover, he however, gave the assurance that the government has implemented sufficient measures to stop this threat.
The Green Ghana Project, the Forest Plantation Strategy, the Youth in Afforestation Program, the Youth in Plantation, and other programs aim to increase forest loss due to illegal mining and logging.
He further said initiatives like the suspension of exploration in forest reserves, the ban on the harvesting of rosewood, and the issuance of CITES permits are some of the measures being implemented to protect the existing forests.
Story by: KDA