The Presiding Member of the Sekyere Central District has rallied the forest fringe communities to take responsibility for the protection of reserves in the area.

Mr. Edward Sekyere Afoakwa said they needed to show ownership of the forest and its resources - unite their effort and to be bold to report those plundering them to the appropriate authorities for action.

The task of ensuring sustainable management of the forest should not be left to the Forest Service Division (FSD) of the Forestry Commission (FC) alone, he added.

Speaking to journalists at Nsuta, he also called for intensification of day and night patrol by the forest guards to check the growing illegal lumbering and chainsaw operations.

He described as disturbing the wanton degradation of forests in the area and said that could not be allowed to continue.

He indicated that the illegal activities were often carried out during the weekend – Saturday and Sunday.

Mr. Afoakwa spoke of an instance where he caught two groups of people right in the act of cutting down and loading teak logs into trucks at Atwea on Sunday, January 28, this year.

He added that, when confronted, they admitted operating illegally and he formally made a report to the District Police Commander, the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Assistant Manager of the FSD.

He said it was in everybody’s interest to safeguard the forest, preserve the biodiversity and fight climate change.