Since the declaration of Agenda 21, that is, the Rio de Janeiro Declaration on the Environment and Development of 1992, and its reaffirmation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, little has been achieved in many countries, especially in developing countries.
Many countries are battling with the negative effects of climate change bordering the disappearance of water bodies through rapid evaporation, coastal flooding, global warming, soil infertility, tsunamis and hurricanes, all attributed to excessive human activities that have continually bedevilled and threatened the very survival of humans.
Human activity has distorted the equilibrium in the ecosystem, although nature has bequeathed enormous natural resources for human welfare which are badly managed to the detriment of mankind.
But the most serious problem facing us immediately in the dry season or harmattan is the rapid spate of bush fires that have persistently destroyed vegetation and tend to reduce forest into savannah, savannah into desert and the extinction of engendered species in the bush and forests.
It was therefore heart warming when the Ecumenical Association of Sustainable Agriculture Development (ECASARD) organised a forum for representatives of communities in the Adaklu traditional area in the Adaklu-Anyigbe district with the view to finding out ways in which a war could be waged against the rampant bush fires which have razed farms, houses, destroyed villages and made investment in area highly risky in the previous years.
Speaking at the function, the Volta regional officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Togbe Akliku Ahorney II said although fire is a useful tool used by our forebears, it had been abused and misused by the present generation leading to the massive depletion of flora and fauna.
He said it had led to high levels of pollution, global warming causing the melting of ice in the Arctic zone, drying up of rivers, sea coastal flooding, among all other negative effects of climate change that had hit the contemporary world.
He therefore appealed to chiefs to act within the national wildfire policy on bush fires to use their authority to check bush fires since the Adaklu area was noted as highly prone for bush fires and urged them to stem the tide to regain a better reputation.
The regional public relations officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Mr Joy Koku Agbleze, said the soil lost nutrients due to unprecedented spate of bush fires saying that it had led to the extensive use of fertilisers and chemicals on plants.
This, he said, was endangering health systems and was a potential destruction of the future generations.
Mr Agbleze said for the sake of charcoal burning, rat and grasscutter hunting bush burning had almost caused the extinction of many species in the animal kingdom aside from the negative effect on water supply and the depletion of the ozone layer, among others.
He therefore warned that PNDC Law 229 on bush fires would be rigorously enforced, adding that traditional authorities had been empowered to enforce the law without recourse to any form of arbitration that may let culprits escape punishment.
Mr Agbleze lamented the negative effects on investment and herbal medicine, adding that for the diminishing availability of natural products, society had resorted to synthetic life associated with disposable products such as plastic chairs now replacing wood products.
An officer of the Evangelical Presbyterian Development and Relief Agency (EPDRA), Dr R. R. P. Mfodwo, said a grand project was proposed with the Forestry Commission to encourage tree cultivation in the area.
Dr Mfodwo advised farmers to desist from the use of chemicals and fire in their farming activities since they jointly destroy agents of decomposition and stall the recycling of waste products to the soil hence the loss of soil fertility.
A startling revelation he made was that many palm trees in the Adaklu zone could not bear fruits because of the annual bush fires that had stunted their steady growth.
He called on farmers to apply indigenous knowledge to improve on their standard of living recalling that bush fires were not rampant in the olden days because people in those days depended on the extended family way of life and shared their knowledge.
The Ho Municipal Deputy Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Mr Seth Asuo, said the end results of bush fires must be analysed from the point that it is detrimental to good farm yields stressing that using fire for land preparation should be discouraged.
He said that farmers who had applied for national farmers awards were judged against the extent to which they had used fire in the cultivation of crops.
For his part, the Volta regional co-ordinator of ECASARD, Mr Fred Agbogbo, lamented that many farmers had suffered losses over the years due to bush fires which they did not cause and said the forum was organised to forestall further fire disasters in the area with the ultimate aim of reducing poverty among peasant farmers.
The Dufia of Adaklu-Anfoe, who is also a senior divisional chief of Adaklu traditional area, Togbe Agbobada IV, who chaired the function, commended the resource persons and said their messages had touched the hearts of participants.
But voices at the forum indicated that persons who report suspects who cause bush fires are treated with contempt that strains relations and causes frustrations in the communities.
They suggested that the education campaign should be spread to neighbouring communities near the Republic of Togo, Agotime-Kpetoe and Ziope in view of the fact that fire could easily be spread by the wind to cause damage elsewhere.
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