The conversation to whether Achimota Forest which has been a tourist reserve for years can be sold is still on going.and many people has took their time to explain the need to keep the forest and not for sale. National Deputy Director of A Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bosu and other Environment and Climate Change experts have affirmed that the Achimota Forest is the lungs of the city and the stop gap against the perennial flooding situation in Accra hence must not be declassified.
They made this appeal during an interview with Johnnie Hughes on FM Community Connect radio development show on Friday 20 May, 2022.
Daryl Bosu also emphasized that the benefits of leaving the forests in their purity state far outweigh any other benefits that could be made from any other commercial or mining activities from them.
“The Achimota Forest is one which absorbs the carbon emissions from the environment and also serves as the stop gap against the floods we experience in the city. The water in the Atiwa forest serves over five million people and also offers biodiversity services. These benefits are more than the money that can be made from mining the bauxite in the forest reserve”
The Convener at Green Republic Project, Nana Yaw Osei -Darkwa has called on the government to go beyond the funfair of the Green Ghana Day Program to ensure that Ghana is able to get the positive benefits of the program.
“The green Ghana Day is a good idea but is it really making the impact we expected? We still have the chance to make it work. It is about the end results and not the funfair hence we should have a proper evaluation and assessment of the Green Ghana Day Project” Nana Yaw iterated on 3FM Community Connect, with Johnnie Hughes on 3FM Friday May 20.
He stressed that living in a green environment gives a refreshing life and further advised that, we should be able to determine our building code as a country to be able to balance development with the protection of the natural environment.
“As a nation we need to hasten slowly regarding the decisions we take with regards to our natural environment, especially with the Achimota Forest. What is the collective interest? Are we looking at the bigger picture and what about the government agreeing with the family to pay them compensation? Generations coming will not forgive us if we are not able to maintain our natural environment,” he said.
He therefore called on the stakeholders and the government never to agree on the selling of the Achimota Forest.
Knowing the critical importance of trees to human existence and in the fight against climate change, we have to plant trees which are the manufacturers of the oxygen which gives us life. These trees do, by absorbing carbons and other greenhouse gases and process into oxygen. If climate change is largely caused by carbon emissions then trees remain our best bet to overcome climate change.
This appeal comes after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo signed an EI to declassify portions of the reserve.
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