Koforidua, Nov. 17, GNA - The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has called for the mobilisation of resources not only to protect the country's forest resources but also to recreate the resources more vigorously than being done now.

The call was contained in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Felix Owusu Agyapong, to launch the Government's Plantation Development Programme at Koforidua on Monday. He stated that despite the efforts of some state agencies and non-governmental organisations to protect the country's forest resources, the government was worried about the extent of illegal logging in and outside

the forest reserves by both chainsaw operators and timber concessionaires. According to Alhaji Mahama, the situation had led to huge loss of revenue to the state and excessive environmental degradation, as a result of which the country now found herself in a precarious situation of shortage of timber for wood processing and attendant threat to job security for workers in that sector.

He noted with concern that the illegal loggers have also recently hired armed gangs to protect them, while they undertake their nefarious activities which, he feared, had put the lives of forestry staff at risk. The Vice President also expressed government's concern that the illegal logging was been done with the connivance of some forestry officers, noting however that the professionalism of some foresters had been compromised as a result of low morale and corruption in the discharge of their activities.

He announced that in pursuance of the government's objective of creating job opportunities, enhance income for rural people as well as providing alternative livelihood support for chainsaw and "galamsey" operators, the national forest plantation development programme is seen as one of the key programmes.

Alhaji Mahama said the target for the programme was to establish 100,000 hectares of plantations over a period of five years between 2003 and 2008 during which 60,000 hectares of plantations will be established within degraded forest reserves, 20,000 hectares outside forest reserves and another 20,000 hectares within urban areas.

He announced that the government had approved 41 billion cedis from the HIPC funds to kick-start the programme with the establishment of 10,000 hectares of plantations during the 2003/2004 planting season. The Vice President assured that the government would facilitate the involvement of farmers, through the provision of information to investors on forest plantation and to ensure access to planting materials during planting periods.

He, therefore, called all sections of the communities, including chiefs, District Assemblies, financial institutions, companies, school children and community-based organisations to support the implementation of the programme.

The Minister of Lands and Forestry, Prof. Dominic Fobih outlined the current polices and programmes of his Ministry as those gearing towards securing the natural resource, developing the resource and optimising the flow of benefits from the resource to the country and resource owners. He mentioned some of the policy reforms being undertaken as ensuring transparent and efficient allocation of timber resources and control of over-cutting, appropriate pricing of timber and forest-based products to increase revenue, mobilisation of chain saw operators into alternative productive ventures and control of illegal logging.

Pof. Fobih announced that of the three plantation development programmes being implemented by the Forestry Commission, the "Modified Taungya"

system established over 17,000 hectares of plantations in 2002, creating about 76,000 jobs in the rural communities, while between January to June, this year, over 30,000 new jobs were generated.

He said under the Community Forestry Management Project being funded by the Ghana Government and the African Development Bank, alternative livelihood schemes for farmers to go into tree growing was being encouraged, while the Bamboo and Rattan Development Programme, as a substitute to timber usage, would develop, with expected Chinese government funding.

The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Gustav Narh-Dometey had, in a welcoming address, noted with regret that very little effort was being made by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to develop the open spaces and recreational parks to beautify the cities, towns and communities.

He therefore, charged the assemblies to join the government in the crusade to restore the lost vegetation cover throughout the country. The Omanhene of New Juaben, Daasebre Prof. Emeritus Oti Boateng, who chaired the function, stressed the need for all sections of the society to collaborate with the state agencies to ensure that the green cover of the country was maintained and protected against degradation. Among the dignitaries who attended the ceremony included the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboah, District Chief Executives from Eastern and Volta Regions and chiefs.