Shea Network Ghana (SNG) a local NGO has called for an amendment of
the Forestry Commission Act 1999 (571) to curtail the destruction of non
timber forest resources.
SNG believes that non inclusion of non-timber forest resources in the
Act is destroying non timber resources but economic tress (such as
shea, dawadawa and baobab) and “threatens livelihood of many and impact
climate change”.
Shea Network Ghana says its recent study, which sought to find the
effectiveness of the Forestry Commission Act, revealed that the Act only
establishes the Forestry Commission as a corporate body with the
following functions: to regulate the utilization of forest and timber
resources, to manage forest reserves and protected areas, to assist the
private sector to implement the Forest and Wildlife Policy and to
undertake the development of plantations.
“It failed to make specific provision that mandate the Forestry
Commission to protect, conserve and manage the shea trees and other
non-forest economic trees in the North despite providing a subtle room
for shea protection”, said a release signed by SNG National Coordinator,
Zakaria Iddi.
The study, according to the release, also revealed that several
operational Manuals and Acts have been developed for tree protection but
all these efforts are uncoordinated requiring a well-established law
for shea protection especially in the face of the non-existence of
by-laws at the Districts Assembly level.
SNG said the lack of inclusion of non timber forest resources by the
Forestry Commission Act has the potential of depriving the livelihood of
“thousands of residents within the three northern and parts of the
Brong Ahafo and Volta regions” and the threaten tree survival of the
wild.
According to SNG, the study was funded by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund.
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SOURCE;MYJOYONLINE
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