By Bisola Adeyemo
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in Ghana, Samuel AbdulaiJinapor, has called on Ghanaians to support the government’s afforestation programme on the need to curb the indiscriminate cutting down of trees which exposed the country to erosion and depleted forests.
AbdulaiJinapor also said government’s efforts to plant at least 20 million trees this year, under the Green Ghana Project, would not be successful without the input of Ghanaians.
While speaking, AbdulaiJinapor, bemoaned the continuous depletion of Ghana’s forests without corresponding effort to restore the forest.
In an interview on Wednesday, AbdulaiJinapor said the Green Ghana Project, the ban on harvesting and export of Rosewood, and the ban on commercial production of charcoal in parts of the country, he said, were policies by government aimed at restoring the forest cover, Ghanaian time reports
Describing illegal mining as a major contributor to the loss of forest, he said government would not relent in its efforts to sanitise land and natural resource sector through appropriate policies and regulations.
In the meantime, the designation of water bodies and forest reserves as Red Zones for mining, the ban on reconnaissance, prospecting or exploration for minerals in Forest Reserves, the introduction of Operation Halt II, the tracking of earthmoving equipment and machines for mining have helped in tackling illegal mining,the minister said.
He said that the Regional, Municipal and District Security Councils have been tasked to lead the fight against illegal mining.
MrJinapor said the government was investing in technology at the Lands Commission, to promote proper land administration.
The investment, he noted, had led to technological reforms in its services, online searches and introduction of composite search to replace the searches at the different divisions of the commission.
