Accra, May 5, GNA - Mr Joseph Amenowode, Volta Regional Minister, on Wednesday called for the involvement of traditional authorities in the afforestation programme to encourage and sustain local participation and commitment to environmental sustainability.

He said local authorities had traditional means of preserving the environment, which needed to be tapped into to enrich campaign on the environment to provide green belts for human settlements. Mr. Amenowode was speaking at a national validation workshop on findings from community consultations along the Ghana-Togo Mountain Range and Review of ACT 583 in Accra.

The workshop is to examine and discuss ways in which the range can be restored close to a level rich enough to play its expected role in the socio-economic life of the communities flinging it and Ghana as a whole. The Minister said the range, which used to be rich in biodiversity, had witnessed gradual deterioration in the natural resources due to poor land use, planning and management.

He said extensive crop cultivation using poor agricultural practices such as shifting cultivation with the attendant felling of trees and slash and burn had led to deforestation, exposing the mountain to serious erosion. While advocating strongly for support for the successful regeneration of the range, Mr. Amenowode called for committed application and implementation of policies and programmes that would salvage the precarious forest situation in the country.

He urged the Town and Country Planning Department to reintroduce environmental planning programmes and practices to protect the environment. Mr. Amenowode reiterated government's commitment to the fight against deforestation to combat climate change and also create employment and wealth for the youth.

It is in line with this that government had adopted a medium to long term plan for plantations development and afforestation programme involving both the public and private sectors.

The Minister said government would facilitate the forestry sector to assist and support community forest management efforts to become more productive and sustainable.

In addition, encouraging private investment in commercial forestry outside forest reserves and along dried up and flowing streams and rivers is also high on the government's agenda.

Dr. Kwame Amezah, Board Chairman of Development Institute, organisers of the workshop said a change in people's perception and the way they relate to the environment was one sure step to the restoration of the environment. He said the country's eco-system was threatened because of human abuse of the natural resources, leading to the loss of animal and plant species that were important for livelihood. 5 May 10