Ghana’s reforestation strategy must move beyond tree planting to full ecosystem restoration, including wildlife recovery, a University of Cape Coast lecturer has warned.
Dr. Frank Ackah, speaking in an interview with The High Street Journal, said large scale environmental degradation driven by illegal mining has stripped forests of more than just their tree cover. He explained that the food sources, natural habitats and ecological conditions that once supported wildlife populations have also been lost, making any meaningful natural recovery far more difficult than current strategies acknowledge.
According to Dr. Ackah, many degraded forest zones can no longer attract wildlife on their own because the fruit bearing trees and vegetation that once formed the base of those ecosystems no longer exist. He argued that reforestation programmes focused mainly on timber species fall short of what is needed, and called for deliberate inclusion of fruit bearing species such as mango and avocado to help draw animal populations back into recovering areas.
He raised equally sharp concerns about the long term viability of programmes that sideline local communities. Dr. Ackah said many initiatives prioritise hitting planting targets while giving inadequate attention to what happens after trees go into the ground. Without clear benefits flowing back to surrounding communities, he argued, local populations tend to view these projects as government led interventions detached from their daily lives.
“When communities see value in what is planted, they protect it,” Dr. Ackah said.
He contended that linking reforestation directly to community benefit, particularly through fruit bearing trees capable of providing food and income, would strengthen long term participation and shield plantations from neglect and encroachment.
Dr. Ackah called for a decisive shift toward community centred forestry models built around benefit sharing mechanisms, maintaining that without genuine local ownership, Ghana’s environmental restoration efforts will continue to underperform regardless of how many trees are planted.
