Likpe, Jan 06, GNA - The chiefs and people of the Likpe Traditional Area in the Hohoe District have agreed to reserve the whole of its mountain range for forest re-generation as part of measures to conserve the natural environment and boost tourism in the area.

They have accordingly agreed to implement any forest conservation plan of the District Assembly and to co-operate with any external bodies ready to assist in the realization of this objective.

Mr Paul Somevi, the Coordinator of the 2005 commemoration of the movement of the Likpe-Bakwa Division from ancient caves at Likpe-Todome, appealed to the Hohoe District Assembly to support a tree seedlings' nursery at Likpe-Todome to provide ready planting materials for the conservation programme.

The anniversary was to celebrate the wisdom and defensive ingenuity of their ancestors "to avert extinction of our race following the threat of invasion by the Ashantis across the length and breath of our region".

The festival also provided the opportunity for all Likpe students in tertiary institutions to visit home.

"We have depleted the forest, exhausted the wildlife and started bushfires every year which consumed the forest", Mr Somevi said. Time, he said, had come for skills in basketry, pottery, kente weaving and yarn manufacture, palm and kernel oil processing, palm wine tapping and distillation of alcohol to be polished and applied to increase alternative economic activities in the area.

He also called for a revival of the "potent culture that includes drumming and dancing" as well as the local cuisine to boost tourism.