The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, responsible for Lands and Forestry, Benito Owusu-Bio has on behalf of the Sector Minister, Samuel A. Jinapor met a delegation from the World Bank on Thursday, 2nd November, 2023.
The discussions at the meeting focused on future projects for the Forestry Sub-sector.
Owusu-Bio in his welcome statement indicated that within the Forestry Sub-sector the priorities of the Ministry are to Protect and conserve the forest and wildlife resources, Engage in aggressive reforestation and afforestation of degraded landscapes especially degraded forest reserves and Community engagement and participatory resources management including community resources management areas (CREMAS).
He added that significant achievements have been made in these areas through the Ghana Forest Investment Programme(GFIP) and other programmes being implemented.
The Deputy Minister expressed gratitude to the World Bank for their continuous support to the Natural Resources and Environment Sector which includes the Ghana Investment Programme (GFIP), REDD+, the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small Scale Mining Project.
The Technical Director of Forestry, Mr Joseph Osiakwan also acknowledged past support received from the World Bank which have contributed immensely to sustainable management of the forest estate and also the development of forest policy and Forestry Development Master Plan.
He highlighted on some policy reforms that have been undertaken including the passing of the Wildlife Resources Management Bill which will be implemented soon. He added that one of the significant successes of the GFIP is the establishment of the Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in the forest areas and these needs to be scaled up as a model for community engagement.
Mr. Hugh Brown, Executive Director of the Forest Service Division also spelt out some challenges faced by forest management such as illegal mining, illegal logging, and wildfires.
On her part, the World Bank Practice Manager for West Africa covering Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy, Mad. Lia Sieghart stated that the World Bank is shifting focus into supporting programmes which includes nature, forestry, biodiversity, water resources management and food security as part of measures to contribute to global efforts towards sustainability.
She assured the Ministry of the World Bank’s readiness to partner the government on key focus areas highlighted to satisfy long- term interests to mitigate climate change.
