Forestry institute signs MoU to improve lives of the vulnerable
The Ghana Institute of Foresters (GIF) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Canadian-based organisation, Forest Without Borders (FWB), to establish a joint development project for vulnerable communities in forest areas.
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Under the agreement, the two institutions will identify charcoal production communities in the country and equip them with the needed support in traditional charcoal production and management, forest development and maintenance and appropriate tree harvesting techniques.
The intended collaboration would also identify other methods of charcoal production to find ways of improving upon them.
An agreement to that effect was signed on Friday between the President of GIF, Dr Kwakye Ameyaw, and the Chairman of the board of trustees of the FWB, Mr Fred Pinto, at a ceremony in Accra.
Forest cover
Ghana is said to have lost more than seven million hectares of its forest cover in the last 100 years.
The country’s forest cover, which stood at 8.6 million hectares by the turn of the 19th century, now stands at 1.8 million hectares.
This is largely due to the activities of illegal miners and timber operators.
Proposals
Dr Kwakye said members of GIF would be expected to develop the relevant proposals to cover the broad scope of the areas of interest and also arrange with potential forestry training providers.
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“The rationale would be to ensure appropriate tree harvesting of existing natural stands to induce coppicing of relevant tree species, resources availability in the long term for a sustainable charcoal industry and cleaner methods of charcoal production,” he said.
Dr Kwakye further indicated that the collaboration would encourage small-holder peasant farmers to retain and restore trees on their farms.
“Whereas FWB intends to treat the related proposals in the area of funding, GIF members will be responsible for developing the said proposals and help local communities to develop proposals of their own which shall include suggested incentives to sustain communal interest in tree cultivation,” he stated.
Dr Kwakye said since the institution was established 25 years, efforts had been made to ensure that members of GIF advocated better mechanisms of maintaining the country’s forest cover.
FWB support
Mr Pinto said the partnership with GIF would focus on ensuring that the country’s forest cover was maintained while vulnerable communities benefited from its use.
He said after touring eight regions in the country, he witnessed many opportunities in the country’s forestry sector and that more could be achieved, if efforts were put in place by all stakeholders.
Mr Pinto said FWB would also focus on collaborating with GIF and the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme of UNDP to promote traditional biodiversity conservation practices in the country.