• Insects, plants and animals form a great part of Ghana’s forests
• Prof. Anthony Amoah wants forests to be turned into recreational centers for revenue generation
An environmental economist, Prof. Anthony Amoah, has bemoaned the fast-depletion of forests in the country, calling for a collective effort at arresting this situation.
Also, he has proposed that more investments should be made into projecting more of the benefits of our forests rather than the new trend of just depleting the vegetational covers of these national treasures.
He explained further that especially with the growing rate of urbanization across the country, it gives rise to the need for even more attention to be sent to the forests and to ensure that they become pools of revenue for the country.
“Look at Shai forest or look at Achimota forest, can’t we have a greenhouse located somewhere that experts or students can go there – let’s say there’s a video room, you have a TV or a documentary on a particular plant, you want to know more about that plant. You just slot in the CD, sit in a nice, green, cozy environment and watch and learn more about the forests, where we can use that to generate revenue for the assembly to maintain the forest?” he said.
“In terms of its existence as a mitigating factor to current trends, forests are habitats for insects, animals, plants, to mention but a few. It is also a unit where students (academics) can go and acquire knowledge. Is that all that we can use our protected forests for? And I say I beg to differ, inasmuch as we depend on our forests for our oxygen and we depend on our forests for education, we can also consider the issue of recreation," he said.
Prof. Anthony Amoah was speaking at the Environment and Natural Resource Research Initiative (ENRRI) workshop on Sustaining Protected Forests in Ghana at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) in Accra, and monitored by GhanaWeb.
He added that when our forests are transformed into recreational centers, it can attract even more tourists into the country, growing the country’s revenue generation and enhancing development.
“Can’t tourists travel all the way from wherever they are to know more about our plants through such beautiful buildings? And this is what some of us, I am an environmental economist so, I am looking at the economics of the forests. What can we do? How much can we generate from this?
“Assuming that we had a pool around it, don’t you think that even if we had a chalet somewhere there that people can rent for a day or two with their families and stay there, with some restrictions where their activities do not compromise the state of the forest. Can’t we be thinking along those lines?” he quizzed.
An analysis of satellite data published earlier this year by U.S.-based World Resource Institute (WRI), found Ghana experienced the biggest relative increase in primary forest loss of all tropical countries last year.
According to the report, the loss of Ghana’s primary forest cover jumped 60 percent from 2017 to 2018 – almost entirely from its protected areas.
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