THE National Forest Plantation Development Programme (NFPDP) launched by President John Evans Atta Mills on January 20, 2010 is on course to provide 30,000 jobs for the youth in various parts of the country.
It is also on course to restore 30,000 hectares of degraded forest reserves this year as part of measures to improve afforestation in the country.
About GH¢66.8 million is being spent on the programme.
The programme, designed to restore lost forests in the country, is also meant to create jobs for the youth in deprived communities.
It forms part of the government’s desire to reduce rural poverty and improve the quality of the environment and contribute significantly to food security by increasing food production.
The Director of Plantation Review Performance, Mr Francis Amoah, who announced this at Akyawkrom in the Ashanti Region during a performance review meeting, stated that the programme was being implemented in degraded forest areas and outside the degraded forest reserves.
The agenda of the meeting included an overview of the performance of the NFPDP since it was launched in January this year.
It also discussed natural forest operations and the challenges from the various regions where the programme has started.
Also on the agenda was the performance report on the establishment and maintenance of plantations by contractors, as well as seedling production and distribution.
ECOTECH, ZOIL Services and African Foresters Brigade are the local contractors executing the programme.
Mr Amoah stated that this year, 30,000 hectares of degraded forest reserves and areas outside the reserves would be covered.
He said the programme would also cover 100 districts in the country and gave assurance that the remaining districts would be brought on board next year.
He said the Forest Research Institute, the Ghana National Fire Service, non-governmental organisations, traditional rulers, among others, were collaborating to ensure that the programme achieved its objectives.
No comments:
Post a Comment