Let Us Help Ghana's Forestry Commission To Find New Sources Of Funding

No one in Ghana, who is a nature lover, can remain unconcerned about the many challenges, which  the Forestry Commission has to contend with - chief amongst which is the lack of resources needed to enable it function effectively.

Over the years, through our writing, some of us have urged those in government, to negotiate a low-carbon development agreement with Norway - and obtain REDD+ forest conservation funding for the Forestry Commission that way.

Now that public private partnership (PPP) agreements are all the rage, why does the Forestry Commission not strike deals with innovative green organisations that help protect forests across the globe, such as the non-profit company, Profoco, of the UK?

Profoco's innovative greensquares CSR programme, could help partially fund both the Forestry Service, and the Wildlife Division, of the Forestry Commission.

It will be a shining example to other organisations in both the public and private sectors of our national economy - as a market-driven sustainability-path available for them to opt for in Ghana's transition to a low-carbon development model.

And a relationship between the Forestry Commission, and the UK glasshouse rainforest attraction, The Living Rainforest, could provide its officials with valuable insights into new awareness-creation methods  - which could be used in Ghana to teach the younger generation  to value forests: and get them to become life-long conservationists.

At a time when our country is being negatively impacted by global warming, the more conservationists there are in Ghana, the easier will be the task of protecting the remainder of our nation's forests: which perform vital ecosystem services crucial for ensuring a good quality of life for all our people.

Finally, a partnership between the Forestry Commission and Greenheart Conservation, for example, could help the Forestry Commission to further enhance visitor-experience at all the national parks - by providing them with canopy walkways and ziplines.

That will make them even more attractive places to visit for both nature lovers and adventure seekers. Greater visitor numbers will help the Forestry Commission to generate more funds for its operations.

Let us all help those in charge of those valuable forests - the Forestry Commission - who also protect the wildlife that inhabit them, to find new sources of funding. This has been my two-pesewas. What is yours?

 Post Script

Readers can look up the Akyem Abuakwa Juaso Nature-Resource Reserve's Facebook page to read about a private initiative by a large  landowning family and the cocoa-farming community of Akyem Juaso to preserve their section of an upland evergreen rainforest in the Atewa Range, in an area designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area, in a conservation-through-eco-tourism project, which  is supported by the M&J Group's subsidiaries, SYTO and M&J Travel and Tours.