The Forestry Commission and the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) are spearheading a landscape strategy to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in the country’s cocoa growing areas.

The strategy, christened, the Cocoa-Forest Emission Reduction Programme, seeks to significantly reduce emissions driven by expansion of cocoa into forest areas, together with illegal logging. It also aims to secure the future of the country’s forests and significantly improve income and livelihood opportunities for farmers and forest users across the programme area.

The initiative is part of Ghana’s REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation + Conservation of Forests, Sustainable Forest Management and Enhancement of Carbon Stocks) programme.

Mr. Yaw Kwakye, Head of the Climate Unit of the Forestry Commission, announced the programme at the first meeting of Ghana’s REDD+ Ambassadors -- a group of eminent and influential people tasked with leading the REDD+ and climate change crusade in Ghana.

He explained that the country’s REDD+ strategy is well-aligned with key national developmental strategies and policies -- adding that its presents a 20-year vision, to be revised at five-year intervals, with a clear set of over-arching activities and priorities for addressing deforestation and forest degradation.

The main thrust of the strategy is the nesting of large-scale sub-national programmes that follow ecological boundaries and are defined by major commodities and drivers, Mr. Kwakye said.

He said the programme is led by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and provides economic incentives for initiatives and actions by developing countries that effectively result in reductions of mainly carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

He explained that the main drivers of emissions in the country include mining, logging, agriculture, wildfires, firewood/charcoal and settlements.

World Bank research estimates that the degradation of agricultural soils, forests and Savannah woodlands, coastal fisheries, wildlife resources and Lake Volta's environment cost Ghana at least US$520 million annually.

Currently, Ghana has a 5.9 million hectare high forest ecozone, with cocoa production zones taking 1.8 million hectares.

The deforestation rate in the country stands at 135,000 hectares annually, culminating in the country’s forest reduction to 1.6 million hectares from 8.2 million at the turn of the century.

Mr. Kwakye said: “REDD+ provides an opportunity to mitigate climate change and make our land-use sector more resilient, while establishing a new source of revenue and benefits for the country”.

An environmental management specialist, Dr. Rebecca Ashley Asare, observed that although Africa is contributing little to global emission figures, the continent is likely to experience some of the worst effects because of poverty. “Mitigation and adaptation measures are needed, and forests can play an important role,” she said.

Dr. Asare said Climate Smart Agriculture, which puts a premium on balancing environmental sustainability with environmentally-friendly farming techniques, and REDD+ are key approaches that can contribute to addressing climate change threats.

Nana Nketsiah urged Ghanaians to take issues concerning the environment seriously, since the consequences of environmental degradation affect us all.

Among the ambassadors are Uncle Ebo Whyte, playwright; Nana Kobena Nketsiah V, the Omanhene of the Essikado Traditional Area in the Western Region, Prof. Mrs. Esi Awuah, Vice Chancellor of the University of Energy and Natural Resources; Dr. Ismael Yamson of Yamson and Associates; Mr. Ken Thompson, CEO of Dalex Financial Services, and a host of media personalities and musicians.