The Forestry Commission of Ghana has said it will secure sophisticated drones for reserved areas in the country, to vigorously check illegal activities causing the destruction of land, forests and other natural resources.
The Sefwi Wiawso District Manager of the Forestry Nana Poku Bosompem, who gave this information in an interview with a Radio Ghana, said currently about Two thousand, six hundred (2,600) youth have been engaged in afforestation in the area to help maintain the five forest reserves including Asawinso, Bodi, Sui, Akontombra and Sefwi Wiawso.
According to him about one third of three thousand acres of land for the afforestation project, were covered with trees like gmelina, which is a new species imported from Costa Rica and local ones such as Vessels, Mahogany and Wawa, among others.
He said the District Forestry had also acquired 50 hectares of land solely for Kokrodua orchard since that type of tree is going extinct in Ghana.
Mr. Bosompem noted that Western North Region, according to their survey, is the only area with tropical forests which need to be reserved.
Forests, he said, provides good temperature to cocoa growing areas including the Western North Region where a bulk of the cocoa is produced for export to earn foreign exchange for Ghana to boost the nation’s economy.
Mr. Bosompem called for the public to cooperate with the Forestry Commission in order to protect the legacy of the country made up of the Forests, Water bodies, Land and Natural Resources.
He appealed to the public to shun interfering in the affairs of the Forestry Commission and allow them to deal drastically with the bad nuts indulging in the illegal mining and felling of trees to destroy the environment.