Illegal small scale miners threaten Cape Three Point forest reserves
The Cape Three Points Forest Reserve in Ahanta West of the Western Region is under threat following encroachment by illegal small-scale miners and chain saw operators.
It is the only coastal forest reserve in West Africa with a land area of 5112 hectares.
In view of this, Tullow Ghana Limited (TGL) and the Jubilee Partners, in collaboration with the Forestry Commission, had formed 43 community monitoring groups in the area to protect the reserve from further encroachment.
A five-year sponsorship deal had been signed between TGL and the Commission to resource the community monitoring groups with Wellington boots, cutlasses, rain coats and organise capacity building programmes for them in order to wade-off perpetrators.
A statement issued by the Cape Three Points Forest Reserve Working Group, signed by Mr Kwabena Adu Bonnah, Takoradi District Manager of the Forest Services Division, and copied to the Ghana News Agency said.
It said since the community monitoring team was formed in February this year, it had aided in reducing encroachment from 37.5 per cent to 6.25 per cent as at November this year.
It, therefore, commended TGL and the Jubilee Partners for their efforts and asked for their continued support for the next four years.
The statement appealed to other corporate bodies, philanthropists and all well-meaning Ghanaians to support the Commission to ensure effective monitoring of the reserve.
The Cape Three Points Forest reserve is a globally significant biodiversity and an international bird area with richness and uniqueness in species composition and diversity.
The reserve, with a Genetic Heat Index of 230, houses a total of 127 individual Nymphid butterflies of 45 species, rare bird species such as yellow-throated bulby, yellow-casqued hornbill, green-tailed bristle bill and copper-tailed glossy starlings.
It also contains 52 black star, 208 gold star and 414 blue star tree species with a high amount of carbon dioxide sequestering from the reserve that aided in absorbing industrial pollutants.
Source: GNA