Blame Forestry Commission for destruction of Atewa Forest – Group

A group calling itself the Concern Citizens of Atewa Landscape is asking Ghanaians to blame the Forestry Commission for the destruction of the Atewa Forest reserve in the Eastern region.

According to them, the Forestry Commission has over the years neglected the Atewa Forest, with massive illegal mining taking place without proper measures to avert such heinous activities in the forest.

Addressing a press conference in Accra, President of the Concern Citizens of Atewa Landscape, Mr Oteng Adjei said, the negligence on the part of the Forestry Commission, if not checked will lead to the destruction of Atewa Forest even before the legal battle in the courts to stop the mining of bauxite would be concluded.

“It is this negligence that has led to the numerous futile interventions put in place by the government to stop illegal mining and its debilitating effect on both the environment and economy.

“It is this same negligence that has brought about the wanton desecration of the Atewa Forest, an important water tower in Ghana as well as an internationally recognized biodiversity area of global significance. Our monitoring of the forest, and the evidence we have gathered show that, in the past 6 months and more, illegal activities in the forest is getting out of hand and there is no deliberate effort by the Forestry Commission to stop this”, he said.

He alleged that illegal mining and logging is being carried out at unprecedented levels with the tacit connivance and approval of some officers of the Forestry Commission and some unnamed faces within the jurisdiction.

“Nana Sir Ofori Atta I is grimacing in his grave that the legacy he selflessly fought to preserve for posterity has been left to rot thus rendering useless his lofty ideals and ideas he bequeathed to posterity. Not long ago, an excavator was in the forest mining but it took the alertness of the leadership of Concerned Citizens of the Atewa Landscape working in tandem with A Rocha to highlight on that illegal activity. Even that the Forestry Commission took offence and took the two NGO’s to the cleaners in that the commission could not be alerted before making public their findings”, he revealed.

According to Mr Oteng Adjei, not long ago two souls were lost in their illegal quest for gold at the Asiakwa stretch of the reserve and even though the Police were involved as well as the traditional leaders who carried out the pacification and cleansing exercise, the incidence never saw the light of day.

He asked, “The question that readily comes to mind therefore is whether or not the Forestry Commission executes its mandate of protecting and preserving the forest resource and whether or not the commission is entitled to the remunerations at the end of every month besides other emoluments”.

“The International Day of Forests was under the theme, “Forest and Sustainable production and consumption”. Yesterday too is international water day with the theme, “Groundwater: making the Invisible Visible”. As a country, we will mount podiums and acclaim our commitment to sustainable use of our natural resources and protection of water bodies, but right in our backyard, we are watching the most critical forest in Ghana, to be destroyed. Atewa Forest is a unique forest not only to Ghana but also to the world. Its hills provide the invisible sources of water, whose impact is felt everywhere by the over 5 million people who depend on the 100 plus streams flowing down the hills. Out of sight, under our feet, its groundwater is a hidden treasure that is enriching our lives”, he added.

He said it is good that Ghana would be spending millions of public and donor money to plant over 20 million trees in July under the Green Ghana Agenda. He noted however that, it would be an exercise in futility if whiles planting, the same system is sitting aloof and watching without any long-term proactive plans to save existing forests like Atewa and many others across the country.

“The negligence and lackadaisical attitude to managing forests must stop now. The Forestry Commission should know that their so-called avowed vision and mission is at stake and risk jeopardizing the future for all of us”, he warned.

According to Mr Oteng Adjei, sooner than later, staff and management of the Forestry Commission would be asked to justify why it must enjoy emoluments after grossly and recklessly abandoning its core mandate for which they were employed.

He noted that, when state institutions renege on their mandate, the overtaxed tax payer suffers because the scarce resources are used in an effort to correct the anomalies, adding that, Galamstop and Operation Vanguard brought in its wake heavy cost when the Minerals Commission failed woefully to enforce its rules and regulations of mining thus paving the way for the pollution of river bodies with the accompanying societal problems.

“We are therefore by this statement requesting for a full-scale investigation of the Forestry Commission Staff at the Kyebi District Office, on why these illegal activities are escalating without any proactive measures in place to address them. The reactive action is not yielding any results and leading to further impunity. We need to wise up please”, he said.

He also entreated all environmental NGO’s and Associations both local and international and the general public to join hands and call for a halt of these nefarious activities in the Atewa Forest.

“We are also using this platform to ask for both civil and legal support to enable us compel the Forestry Commission to do their mandated work of protecting our forests as they are supposed to. There is too much pretense around”.

He added “The burden of protection therefore now lies on the shoulders of civil society. We must rise up and protect this priceless gem of nature for now and posterity as our forefathers who were classified living in a period of “abagyimi brɛ” could out of their supposed ignoramus see the need to preserve the Forest Reserve for posterity”.