Ghana: the protest is organized to save the Achimota forest
Achimota Forest in the heart of Ghana's capital Accra on August 4, 2020. © Wikimedia Commons CC BY SA 4.0 Kwaku Berko
Text by: RFI Follow |
RFI
2 mins
In Ghana, the protest is organized to save the Achimota forest.
About fifteen ecological and civil society associations have been demonstrating since Tuesday, June 28 and again this Wednesday against a government decision to return plots located in protected areas of the forest reserve to traditional owners.
According to them, this decision will amputate almost 400 hectares of forest.
Advertising
Read more
It is an area of over 1,000 hectares, right in the heart of the capital Accra.
Inside the forest, a reserve that is home to many animal and plant species.
In April, 361 hectares of this site were decommissioned to be given to a royal family in the region who claim historic ownership.
This decision is contested by Bernard Mornah, member of the Arise Ghana collective which brings together around fifteen NGOs: “
We, the young people, think that it is an attack on our environment.
It is a theft of the lands that our ancestors bequeathed to us.
In the end, only President Nana Akufo-Addo and his cronies will benefit, and the rest of Ghanaian society will drink.
»
Declassification of the Achimota forest is no no!#AriseGhana #AriseGhanaDemo #SaveGhanaNow pic.twitter.com/gnOVStT8kM
— KOJO DYNAMIC 𓃵 (@AnnanPerry) June 28, 2022
What set things on fire was the publication in the press of a will according to which the former president of the forestry commission, who was also a member of the ruling party, bequeathed plots of land to his relatives. of this forest.
“
Land cessions are illegal and unconstitutional
”
In the face of the outcry, the government opened a corruption investigation in May, while insisting that the returned land is public and not on protected areas.
Jay Jay Koranteng, of the NGO Occupy Ghana, is not convinced.
“
We strongly believe that land cessions are illegal and unconstitutional.
If the government claims that certain lands are public, it must provide a legislative instrument showing at what point in our history these lands became public and were therefore no longer protected.
The collective asked for proof of downgrading from the land commission which, to date, has not responded.
There is also the fear that it will encourage industrial exploitation in the only green lung of the Ghanaian capital.
The Achimota Forest is not only an excellent carbon sink for the city to re-oxygenate, it plays a vital role in the flow of water to the sea. We have noticed that as humans have encroached on this sensitive ecological zone, flooding has become more frequent.
This has huge implications for poor people and their livelihoods.
Because the places that are flooded shelter the most vulnerable.
Bright Simons (Imani Africa): “Achimota Forest is not only an excellent carbon sink”
The Ghanaian Ministry of Lands and Natural Resource Management did not respond to our requests.
►Also listen: Decryption - Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana: deforestation is accelerating
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Ghana
Environment
Biodiversity
Flora