Strong ‘political will’ required to restore environment- Okyehene

By Ernest Bako WUBONTO

The Paramount Chief of Akyem Traditional Area, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, has underscored the need for strong political will in the fight against galamsey and environmental degradation.

He observed that previous efforts to combat illegal mining (galamsey) failed due to lack of strong political will. He urged the current government to take firm action to curb the menace, stressing that its destruction of the environment threatens future generations’ right to a safe and sustainable living space.

“We are up against individuals who are more powerful and armed with sophisticated weapons in the forests engaging in galamsey. We cannot defeat them and they continue to destroy the land with impunity. How can we stop them when the political powers are not with us?

“The Constitution vests all natural resources in the president. Even as a chief, I do not own these resources and cannot control what happens to them unless the president intervenes,” he said.

The Okyenhene made these remarks at the launch of an initiative dubbed ‘Restore Local’ by the World Resource Institute (WRI), targetted at restoring degraded lands in cocoa-belt communities.

Restore Local

Landscape Manager-World Resources Institute, Eric Lartey, elaborated that deforestation and land degradation in the Ghana Cocoa Belt (GCB) have been driven by unsustainable land use practices, particularly the expansion of cocoa farming into forested areas, illegal farming and illegal mining in protected areas.

These challenges, he said, have been made worse by inadequate finance for restoration, an unfavourable policy environment and weak capacity to undertake and track quality restoration.

Consequently, he said, the Ghana cocoa-belt landscape is experiencing significant biodiversity loss, soil depletion, reduced water availability and increased greenhouse gas emissions.

With the effects of these problems directly impacting livelihoods of farmers and local communities – leading to reduced crop yields, food insecurity and heightened vulnerability to climate change – the ‘Restore Local’ initiative, he explains, aims to mitigate theese impacts through innovative restoration strategies.

“Without major investment and platforms for growth, Ghanaian restoration champions will not be able to deliver thriving projects that restore land and deliver economic, social and climate benefits at maximum scale.

“So, Restore Local working with strategic partnerships will promote awareness of landscape restoration and its benefits, provide restoration champions across Ghana’s cocoa-belt with the support they need to restore degraded lands,” he said.

Director-Global Restoration Initiative, WRI, Sean DeWitt highlighted that ‘Restore Local’ is focusing on three broad guiding priorities which include incentivising locally-led restoration; developing and demonstrating inclusive financial mechanisms that mobilise public and private capital to pay for social and environmental outcomes; and shaping the restoration movement to become targetted, high quality and locally-led.

“We at WRI believe that just as we have the power to degrade the land, we also have power to restore the environment. With local communities and women as active participants, we want ‘Restore Local’ to plant not just trees but also seeds for economic restoration,” he said.

‘Restore Local’ since its establishment in Ghana has trained 22 champions, planted 2.8 million trees and restored about 7,681 hectares of degraded lands over the country, providing about 5,000 full-time and part-time jobs.

Data Quality Analyst, WRI, Daniel Kwaku Owusu in a presentation shared insights into the ‘Terramatch dashboard’ – a tool that helps Restoration champions access funds and report on projects. He indicated that the platform is open for proposals from social enterprise organisations to access funding grants for their projects.

Isaac Noble Eshun of the Forestry Commission said degradation of the Atiwa Forest is a threat to the three water-bodies that take their source from the mountain.

He called for an all-inclusive effort to address the activities of galamsey and indiscriminate felling of trees, among others.

Of the 143 cocoa -political districts across the country, about 38 have been covered by the initiative – with several cocoa farmers receiving support to plant trees as well as practice bee-keeping in their farms.

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