Ghanaian Politicians: Protect What Is Left Of Ghana's Natural Heritage

It is instructive that Ghana's political parties and its educated urban elites seldom talk about the two most pressing problems that our nation must grapple with and resolve if it is to have a long-term future.


One is yet to hear, dear reader,   any of the members of the so-called communications teams of political parties, outlining party policy designed to combat the impact on Ghana's agricultural sector of global climate change - and to halt  the destruction of what is left of our nation's  natural heritage.


Yet, across our nation,  we are witnessing an unprecedented drop in crop yields resulting from global climate change, as well as  the poisoning of  soils and the  water-table, on an almost  apocalyptic scale.


And it is  being done  with impunity by selfish and lawless elements engaged in illegal activities,  such as  surface gold mining without official permits.


If not halted, those  destructive activities  will make it virtually impossible  to put    vast swathes of once-fertile land in the  Ghanaian countryside    to any productive use for decades to come -  in what is still a nation with a largely agrarian rural economy.


Then there is also the unspeakable crime being committed against future generations, by those engaged in illegal logging -  both illegal chainsaw operators and legally registered timber firms abusing their permits by over-harvesting.


The tragedy, is that  those forests could be the basis for low-carbon growth that powers a new flourishing green economy for the forest belt. And green growth does indeed hold, dear reader.


Our forests could actually earn Ghana billions of new Ghana cedis in low-carbon development deals with Scandinavian nations such as Norway. Could we not create wealth for much of rural Ghana that way, I ask?


Perhaps the new generation of politicians with a knowledge of economics, such as Dr. Bawumiah,   can educate themselves  on the subject,  and make their  parties aware of the incalculable value of the   vital ecosystem services provided by the remainder of our nation's forests.


Hopefully,  that will end in a  solemn promise by their  parties  to Ghanaians,  that if their parties' candidates   for the December presidential election were to emerge victorious in the December presidential election, they  will take swift action to  protect the remainder of those all-important  forests.


(Incidentally, a wag I know says that Dr. Bawumiah, whose party says he's the last word in economics,  "appears to have  neither  the nous nor gumption,     in a nation of   high interest rates that are    crippling  Ghana businesses,   to recommend replacing expensive bank loans with local and foreign private equity financing,  for Ghana's private sector to fund  vital projects and expansion plans."


"Not too surprising" says the  wag further  -  "as he is credited with our daft foray into the piranha-infested capital markets of Europe, which  raised  US$750 millions in a sovereign bond issue with impossible coupon rates that was then subsequently  misapplied by the selfsame party whose presidential candidate he is now partnering." But I digress - so back to topic,  dear reader.)


To ensure a good quality of life for our people today and tomorrow, what is left of our nation's natural heritage, particularly the unique Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest - an area designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA)  and choking with yet-to-be-discovered medicinal plants worth billions of dollars and potentially without compare in Ghana as a world-class eco-tourism destination -  needs to be protected from the greedy and wealthy criminal syndicates,  as well as the  rich and well-connected crooks   plundering them with the connivance of part of officialdom. A word to the wise...


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Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com