Wanton destruction of trees deplored

29-10-08
Page 30

PARTICIPANTS at a seminar on 100 years of forestry in Ghana at the Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Exhibition (GIFEX 2008) have deplored the wanton destruction and cutting of trees in urban areas for commercial activities.
They said such destruction was seriously affecting the ecology. They therefore called on the authorities concerned to enforce by-laws in regard to the destruction of trees in urban areas.
“We have failed in our urban plantation development”, the Technical Director of the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mr Fredua Agyeman, summed up the views of the participants.
A former Dean of the Institute for Renewable and Natural Resources, Mr J. G. K. Owusu, who set the tone for the discussion on the subject, said little was being done about urban plantation development.
He said apart from the streets, trees around some schools had been cut, thereby defeating the purpose for which they were planted in the first place.
He stressed the need for people to plant trees around their houses to provide greenery and that people should not only plant trees for economic reasons but also to maintain the ecological balance.
In a keynote address, the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Professor Nii Ashie Kotey, stressed the need for innovation and pooling of resources to meet future challenges in the timber industry so the country could remain competitive in the global village.
A Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr E. A. Abeney, said forest standards require sound environmental practices.