The Forestry Commission has initiated steps to set up 34 protection camps at vantage areas in forest reserves that are hotspots of illegal mining activities.
Each of the camps, which would host up to 12 forestry guards, would be equipped with communication gadgets, drones and arms for effective surveillance and foiling of attempts to perpetrate galamsey in the reserves.
The Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Dr Hugh Brown, who made this known at a media briefing in Accra, said tenders had already been placed in respect of four of the forest protection camps, with funding support from donor institutions.
“We expect 10 more of the camps by the end of the year; and by next year, we expect 34 to be stationed at hotspots,” he added.
Dr Brown said the commission was also encouraging large-scale timber industries to help with financial resources to set up camps within their concessions.
Currently, the Forestry Services Division (FSD) of the commission takes care of the country’s 288 forest reserves.
Situation
The first line of defence for the forest reserves is the forest guards who live in communities from where they go on routine monitoring of the forest reserves.
Dr Brown described the current situation where forest guards lived among community members as counterproductive in the galamsey fight, especially in forest reserves.
The CEO said that establishing camps close to forest reserves would put them in a better position to easily detect and take action before illegalities were perpetrated.
Para-military transition
On the way forward to bolster the capacity of the commission, he said processes had commenced to review the Forest Commission Act, 199 (Act 571), with a view to transforming the commission into a para-military institution.
Dr Brown said the review of Act 571 was also meant to restructure and reposition the commission to be more effective in confronting current and future challenges while leveraging growth opportunities.
He added that preparatory works on the bill had been done and would be sent to the Attorney-General's Department for the required procedures to be followed for its passage.
“We want to transition to that kind of forest reserve protection that is very effective. It will reduce attacks on guards. They will move in teams and will have weapons and drones for surveillance,” the CEO said.
Other initiatives
Dr Brown further said that the commission was focused on streamlining operations and resourcing the FSD and the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) checkpoint system across the country.
He said the commission would also prioritise expansion of eco-tourism sites by including forest reserves with high potential for eco-tourism; develop and implement a payment for ecosystem service (PES) scheme, including carbon sequestration, watershed protection, biodiversity conservation, to support forest conservation and restoration.
A revised Ghana Forest Landscape Restoration Strategy would be launched in the first half of 2026, drawing lessons from the implementation of the Tree for Life (T4L) this year.
