An illegal Chainsaw Operator has been crushed to death by a falling tree at Apradang a farming community in the Kwahu West District of the Eastern Region.

The body of the deceased identified only as Efo and believe to be in his 50s has been retrieved by Police and deposited at the Morgue.

Kasapa News has gathered that the deceased though experienced chainsaw operator did not follow the standard procedure in felling trees hence in the cause of cutting down the economic tree it fell on him after the tree suddenly changed direction towards his side.

Illegal chainsawing is one of the major factors of deforestation in Ghana.

The rate of deforestation and forest degradation in Ghana has been on the rise in recent decades. From the country’s original forest cover of 8.2 million hectares from the onset of the last century, only an estimated 1.6 million hectares remain. Currently, the deforestation rate is about 2.5% of the total land area of Ghana leading to an annual loss of about 135,000 ha. For example, between 1990 and 2000, the forest cover loss was about 387,256 ha (2%) whereas a total area of 531,364 ha (3%) was lost for the period 2000-2010 (FAO, 2016).

Other factors attributed to the increasing trend of the deforestation rate in Ghana are agricultural expansion, timber harvesting, population and development pressure, and mining and mineral exploitation.

Recently, environmental activists in both Ghana and International have been up in arms with the government for leveraging bauxite deposits in Atewa Forest Reserve for mining by Chinese firm-Sinohydro in a 2million dollar deal.

The agitating environmentalists are citing deforestation and damage to headwaters of three Major rivers dependent by over 5 million people.