Bolgatanga, Nov. 10, GNA - Participants at a Validation Workshop under the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP) have appealed to the government to encourage illegal small scale miners to register. GEMP, with support from the Canadian government, begun in the Region last year and is being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is aimed at reversing land degradation in the three northern regions.

The participants, who were drawn from the districts in the Region including traditional rulers, said since there was no way government could tackle the problem of illegal small scale mining there was the need to check their activities. They said the government could mount sensitization programmes to educate them on how to conduct their activities to minimise environmental degradation and to safeguard their lives. The participants expressed regret at the way illegal small scale mining was carried out in the Region and said this could promote more environmental degradation.

Participants appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to assist communities with technical advice and support to nature pasture for grazing in order to reduce overgrazing. They also called on the Management of Wild Life and Conservation to strictly enforce their by-laws to help reduce negative environmental activities such as poaching and bush burning which is rampant in the area.