Pass Wildlife Resources Management Bill – FoE

Environmental NGO, Friends of the Earth (FoE) Ghana, has called on parliament to pass into law the Wildlife Resources Management bill submitted in 2014.

The bill, among others, seeks to address challenges facing wildlife administration in Ghana as well as protect wildlife zones.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Thursday, 3 April 2018, Executive Director of FoE Ghana, Dr Theo Anderson, emphasised the urgent need for the current parliament to pass the bill, saying Ghana’s forest reserve is fast disappearing.

He said: “The wildlife bill was submitted to parliament during the previous government’s era but was never passed. With the change of government, we anticipate that this bill will be re-submitted to the new parliament, but unfortunately, up to date, this has not happened.

“The bill is critically important to the future of Ghana’s environment and wildlife resources which is fast disappearing. As we all know, the forest resources are disappearing at about 10,000 hectares per year.

“The current level of illegal and unsustainable forest logging as well as other bad practices such as trapping, killing and trading of Ghana’s wildlife including rare and protected species, is dissipating Ghana’s forest and wildlife. We hope that when this bill is passed, the laws will strengthen the protection of Ghana’s forest and wildlife”, Dr Anderson said.

He further called on government to desist from plans to mine bauxite in the Atiwa Forest reserve.

“As part of the call for government to pass the bill, we are also calling on government to stop the plans to mine bauxite in the Atiwa forest,” he stated.

Source: ClassFMonline