A new report about the state of forest worldwide, indicates that Ghana’s rainforest is being lost at an alarming rate.
Global Forest Watch (GFW) used updated remote sensing and satellite data from the University of Maryland and estimates that there was a 60percent increase in Ghana’s primary rainforest loss in 2018 compared to 2017, the highest in the world.
The second highest was neighboring Côte d’Ivoire with a 28% increase. Together, these two countries produce nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa.
It is also estimated that from 2001 to 2021, Ghana lost 1.41Mha of tree cover, equivalent to a 20% decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 740Mt of CO₂e emissions.
According to the report, while clearing for cocoa farming is a leading cause of deforestation, mining is the biggest threat. Illegal small scale mining, known locally as “galamsey”, has caused massive environmental damage which the government estimates it would cost USD29 billion o help restore.
By way of definition, deforestation is the systematic removal of forest cover due to human activities and natural occurrences.
The statistics are grim and frightening, on its part, the Forestry Commission in a 2016 report said, nearly 80percent of Ghana’s forest resources under state management had been lost to illegal logging activity since 1990.
Encouragingly, the country has attempted to halt the rate of deforestation by introducing a number of policies.
In 2021, the government through the ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, launched the Green Ghana Day to plant trees across the country.
The first edition of the programme saw over five millions trees being planted, 85percent of which turned out to be successful. The second edition which came off on June 10, 2022 targeted 20million trees.
For this year, the government has targeted the planting of ten million tree seedlings on June 9, 2023, across the country, to mark the Green Ghana Day, a Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio, has disclosed.
The day forms part of government’s aggressive national afforestation programme to restore Ghana’s depleted forest cover.
One thing the government can do in the battle to stop deforestation is to create awareness among the citizenry about the problem, how it can affect them personally, and why and how they can contribute to solving the problem.
As a newspaper, we commend the plan government to plant ten million trees this to combat deforestation.
We believe, the private sector can also help by contributing and getting involved in order to reverse the negative impact deforestation is having on the environment.
Governments can also support groups championing the cause of protecting the environment, as well as incentivize efforts of individuals and groups to plant trees.
It is said that, when the last tree dies, the last man dies.
