Kumasi, April 8, GNA - A two-day workshop organized by the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG)to inform stakeholders in the forestry sector of the availability, contents and use of the Guidelines and Manual for Community Involvement in the Management of Wildfires in Ghana has opened in Kumasi.

The 90-page document, published by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources with the support of International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is meant to serve as a tool for the implementation of Ghana's National Wildfire Management Policy.

Its contents include 93United Nations principles in wildfire management", 93traditional uses of fire", 93protecting lives and assets", 93fire effects on the ecosystem", 93capacity building in community fire management" and 93wildfire prevention and suppression." Professor Aime Nianogo, Director of the Central and West Africa Regional Programme of the IUCN, said it was worrying that the management of fire had still not been integrated into the landscape management efforts of the country.

This, he said, could potentially erode and reverse several years of good forest management and biodiversity conservation. Prof Nianogo said failure to involve traditional structures and systems in fire management had led to resistance to change due to tightly held beliefs, attitudes, values and practices as well as the lack of support of local communities for wildfire prevention and control programmes.

The document, he said, had the objective of ensuring the protection of timber and non-timber products and restore fire degraded lands with adapted tree species through sustainable management of wildfires.

Mr Mike Hammah, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, in a speech read on his behalf, said there was the need to enhance the participation of communities and environmental groups in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of wildfire prevention and control activities.

Wildfire, he said, was the most important single threat to the integrity of forests in Ghana and called for multi-sectoral approach to tackle the menace.