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Regional news for Sunday January 31, 2021
Source: GNA
2021-01-31
Wood for wood
Forests play an important role in the lives of people living nearby.
Women and men in most rural communities have depended on forests over the years for their daily basic subsistence, such as food, shelter, medicine and fuelwood energy supplies.
In addition to the staple foods that communities obtain from the farms, women and girls normally explore the woods to gather natural vegetables for food preparation.
Obviously, forests provide a form of social security for women and girls as they are responsible for cooking and looking after the household.
Trend change
However, the recent increase in the exploitation of forest resources has affected this way of life.
Members of rural communities, especially women in the savannah zone, no longer benefit from forests and woodlands as they did a few years ago due to deforestation mainly due to human activities.
Logging for timber, which was once limited to the high forest area with its rich timber species, has now shifted to the savannah areas.
The discovery of rosewood as a good alternative tree for wood does not bode well for women, especially in rural communities in savannah areas. The impact of these human activities on livelihoods and the environment is enormous, especially for women.
While men and women depend on the forest or woodlands for their livelihoods, women seem to suffer most from deforestation more than men, due to their role in society.
“Because of their role as those who feed the family and the household, women are unable to provide for their families without firewood,” said Emmanuel Ntiako, deputy regional director of the Haut-Est region of the Forestry Commission.
In other words, the existence of forests is also crucial for the maintenance of the rural household, whether in the high forest area or in the savanna areas. But it is also threatened because the natural regeneration of forests has been distorted by rapid overexploitation of the resource base.
And the continued disruption of tree growth has pronounced implications for livelihoods, while it can also lead to the extinction of plant and animal species.
The situation is made worse by the general lack of commitment and zeal of marginal communities to replant or even to contribute to forest management.
The northern savanna area
Ghana’s savanna zone located in the northern part of the country occupies 65.5 percent of the country’s total land area, with only about 15 percent of the woodland savanna in some form of forest reserve, according to the Organization for food and agriculture (FAO).
Mr. Ntiako, described the savannah area “as being made up of grasslands and very thick pieces of giant grasslands interspersed with forests made up of different plant species such as hardwood”, adding that “human activities have now changed the shape of the savannah ”.
He stressed that “the bush fire is the most dangerous weapon which militates against the subsistence of the wooded savannas”.
The area is also threatened by the expansion of agriculture, poor farming practices and overgrazing.
The Bawku enclave
The Bawku enclave of the savannah zone covers eight classified forest reserves including; Red Volta East, Zawse Plantation, Upper Tamne Block, and Moragu Plantation.
The others are Basua Bridge, Bugumbu Extension, Zwase Hill and Moragu.
Bawku Forest District Director Emmanuel Omane explained that each of the reserves is bordered by at least one community such as Moragu located in Garu district.
Zawse Plantation Reserve has marginal communities including; Tamne, Zawse and Banse.
The marginal communities of the Upper Tamne block are Nakom, Bazuode, Pusiga, Tempane and Bawku.
The Bugumbu reserve has Atoba and Binduri as marginal communities; while the East Red Volta has the most marginal communities namely: Widnaba, Binaba, Kusanaba, Zongoyiri, Tilli and Kokori.
Mr. Omane noted that the dominant tree species on reserves include; shea, tamarind, baobab, dawadawa, blackberries and urban fruits.
However, he mentioned illegal agriculture, galamsey and fuelwood logging as the main challenges facing the reserves.
The forest manager indicated that the degradation of the landscape had become a major problem. “Currently, around 1,000 hectares of landscape encompassing both forest reserves and non-reserves have been degraded in the Bawku enclave,” adding, “the landscape here needs to be urgently saved.”
According to FAO reports, out of the total conserved area of 15 million hectares in the northern savanna area, about 20,000 hectares per year of the reserved area are lost to agriculture or due to bush fires, livestock grazing and other human activities.
Generational changes
In general, Ghana’s vegetation cover consisting of the high forest area which covers one third of the country and woodland savannas and grasslands covering two thirds has been altered and degraded over the years.
Member of the Binduri community, Philip Ayamba recalled that what is now Bumbugu Forest Reserve was once community land, which was converted into a reserve by the colonial administration.
“During the colonial period, the chiefs wanted to take over control of land and forest resources, but eventually the colonial masters took control in the case of the Bumbugu Forest Reserve in Binduri which extends to Zawse , Binduri and Gentiiga.
Sharing views on the rate of depletion of Bumbugu forest, Mr Ayamba said that the depletion of natural resources in general was due to mismanagement. “Our great-grandfathers used traditional knowledge to manage the forests, but over time, due to the lack of control over these resources, people come in, harvest thatch, rafters, fruits, logs. and game, after which they set the forest on fire, ”he said.
Mr. Ayamba called for heightened environmental awareness to generate value for natural resources among Ghanaians.
He proposed the creation of working groups on natural resource governance with a specific mandate to educate stakeholders in resource governance.
Conclusion
Poor management of forest resources has consequences on livelihoods and it is clear that their degradation affects everyone and especially women. Indeed, in the midst of all the challenges, the woman still has to plan and put food on the table for the family.
For young people, the best they can do is migrate to supposedly greener areas to find other sources of income.
Considering the usefulness of forest resources as a vital support system for livelihoods, the nation must step up its efforts to address the drivers of forest destruction and degradation, whether in the high forest area. or in savannah areas.
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