Forest protection efforts in Ghana’s Ahafo Region have received a boost following the presentation of 22 motorbikes to the Forestry Commission to improve patrols and monitoring across the Asunafo-Asutifi landscape.
The motorbikes, provided by Proforest, will enable forestry officers to access remote areas of forest reserves, monitor restoration sites and respond more quickly to illegal activities.
The support is part of the Support for Forest Protection and Rehabilitation in the Asunafo-Asutifi Landscape project, being implemented under the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme with support from Mondelēz International, Barry Callebaut and Sainsbury’s Supermarket.
The project is targeting the rehabilitation of about 450 hectares of severely degraded forest reserves, particularly within the Asutifi North Sub-Hotspot Intervention Area.
Better access for forest officers
Limited access to remote sections of forest reserves can make regular patrols difficult for forestry officers, allowing illegal activities and encroachment to go undetected.
The motorbikes are expected to improve the mobility of officers working in the field and allow them to cover difficult terrain more easily.
Rev. Edward Opoku Antwi, Ahafo Regional Manager of the Forestry Commission, said the support came at an important time for forest protection in the region.
“These motorbikes come at a critical time for forest protection in the region,” he said. “They will help our officers reach remote areas more quickly, improve surveillance of the reserves and support the restoration work taking place in the Asunafo-Asutifi landscape.”
Protecting Ghana’s biodiversity
The intervention has implications beyond forest patrols.
Forest reserves provide habitats for wildlife, protect water sources and support ecosystems that communities and agriculture depend on. Their continued degradation puts those functions at risk.
More effective patrols can help detect illegal activities earlier, while regular monitoring can help ensure that areas being restored are protected from further degradation.
Abraham Baffoe, Global and Africa Director of Proforest, said the improved mobility would strengthen the Forestry Commission’s ability to protect forest reserves and monitor restoration activities.
He said the support would help safeguard restoration investments and advance efforts towards climate-resilient and deforestation-free cocoa landscapes.
Cocoa and forest conservation
The Asunafo-Asutifi landscape is an important cocoa-producing area as well as a priority landscape for forest protection and restoration.
This makes forest conservation important to both the environment and the cocoa industry.
The Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme is designed to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation while promoting more sustainable cocoa production.
For cocoa-producing communities, protecting forests can help preserve water resources, biodiversity and the natural systems that support agriculture.
For cocoa companies and buyers, maintaining forest cover is increasingly important as the global industry places greater emphasis on deforestation-free supply chains.
The support from Proforest and its partners therefore links private-sector investment in cocoa sustainability with practical conservation work on the ground.
Keeping restoration gains
The 22 motorbikes are expected to help forestry officers maintain a more regular presence in areas where access has been a challenge.
That could be important for protecting the approximately 450 hectares targeted for rehabilitation and ensuring that restoration gains are not lost to renewed degradation or encroachment.
For Ghana, where forest reserves continue to face pressure from human activity, improving the capacity of frontline institutions remains an important part of protecting the country’s biodiversity.
In Ahafo, the immediate gain is better mobility for forestry officers. The larger objective is to keep degraded forests on the path to recovery while protecting the wildlife, water resources and ecosystems that support communities and cocoa production.
