Sunyani, Jan. 24, GNA- Illegal chainsaw operations and bushfires are the causes for the fast depletion of the country's forests and the Brong Ahafo Regional Office of the Forestry Service Division (FSD) had taken steps to check the practices.

Mr. Kwakye Ameyaw, Regional Manager of FSD told Ghana News Agency in an interview in Sunyani that research conducted into such negative activities had shown that merely exhorting people against illegal chainsaw operation had not made the expected impact.

Such people appear not deterred by the intermittent military-cum-police patrols in the forest reserves to check them. He said five forest reserves in the Sunyani district have been selected for a pilot Taungya Forest Development Plantation project under which interested individuals are assisted to plant trees alongside food crops in the forests.

Mr Ameyaw explained that workers of the Taungya project would be encouraged to form farming co-operatives to qualify them for absorption into the Co-operative Credit Union in any part of the region. He advised the public against the mentality that a forest reserve "is the sole property of the Forestry Department" and called for all to ensure the security of the nation's forest reserves. The nation stands to lose tremendously if the citizenry continue to remain apathetic to the depletion of the forests through illegal chainsaw operations.

Mr. Ameyaw said the FSD in collaboration with the Japanese Government had embarked on a five-year development plan to improve the management of Ghana's forests.

He said the joint Ghana/Japan study teams conducted a feasibility study in the five forest reserves and worked on measures to promote forest rehabilitation and fire control.

He said the study covered the degraded part of Tain two forest reserves and the four other reserves, noting that the degradation was mainly due to persistent wildfire.

Mr Ameyaw said among the recommendations of the study, the FSD had formed a wildfire management team with stakeholders, whilst volunteer squads had been trained.

The Regional Manager added that 1,348 hectares of forest had been developed by potential beneficiaries.

More than 5,000 hectares have been established by the FSD and that the Japanese have also provided 28.6 million US dollars as logistic support.