Samuel A. Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, says the sustainable management of the natural resources of the country requires the collective action of all, including members of the communities where these resources are located.
He said Government’s efforts to manage these resources for the benefit of current and future generations may come to naught, if citizens do not support these actions.
The Minister was speaking at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi on Saturday 1st October, 2022, on the theme “40 Years of Training Natural Resources Managers: A New Age for a New Beginning.”
He said natural resources are so crucial to our very survival, and must be sustainably managed to ensure optimal benefit for current and future generations. He bemoaned the wanton destruction of the environment by illegal miners and illegal loggers, which is negatively impacting our forest and water resources, wildlife, aquatic and marine life, among others.
He said Government has put in place several measures to ensure the protection and sustainable management of these resources, including the ban on the harvesting of Rosewood, the ban on exploratory activities in Forest Reserves, the use of speed boats to patrol water bodies, the introduction of mercury-free Gold Katchas, and the establishment of Small Scale Mining Committees in all mining districts in the country.
Mr. Jinapor, however, said these measures will not yield the desired results if people at the local level continue to connive with others to pollute the water bodies and destroy the environment.
He queried how people could mine in forest reserves or illegally fell trees on the blind side of all the local actors in the community, including the chiefs, assembly members, unit committee members, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, the district security apparatus and opinion leaders.
“It is either we are fighting galamsey or we are not. And if we are, it requires a collective action from all of us, not just the President or his Ministers, but more importantly traditional, local and political authorities at all levels, as well as residents of these communities,” the Minister said.
He charged the Faculty to develop programmes that respond to the local challenges and provide strategic and managerial insights into conversations and debates about natural resource management.
He also tasked them to take a lead role in educating, sensitising and re-orienting Ghanaians about the importance of natural resources and the need to preserve them.
