Takoradi, Aug. 28, GNA- Participants at a forum on forest management at Takoradi, on Thursday urged the government to involve chiefs and people of communities in the formulation and implementation of laws and policies on environmental management.

They noted there has been a failure in the implementation and enforcement of laws and regulation on forest management.

The forum, which was organised by the Green Earth Organisation, an NGO has the theme: "Stakeholder involvement in the forest management in Ghana - policy formulation, conservation, restoration/plantation benefit sharing, monitoring and evaluation".

Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, stressed the need for a comprehensive programme that would focus on environmental education to address problems of mismanagement of forest resources and environmental degradation.

Mr Aidoo said policies to check illegal logging and sand winning could not achieve the desired results without the active involvement of the local people, adding that, the need for people to change attitudes and behaviour towards the use of the environment was paramount.

Mr John Ansah, a senior programme manager of Green Earth Organisation, said effective forest resource management was crucial to the people's survival and urged the government as the main policy maker, and a major stakeholder to coordinate its efforts to formulate data to reverse the mismanagement of forest resources.

He noted that the present programme under which only 20,000 hectares out of 60,000 hectares of degraded forests are replanted each year could not resolve the problem of forest degradation in the country. He suggested that all off-reserves of the forests should come under the control of the various traditional authorities to ensure proper protection of resources.

Mr Ansah called on the media to lead the crusade to check illegal activities that continued to affect the environment. Participants included, environmentalists, representatives of some traditional councils and heads of government departments and institutions.