The Bui Power Authority?s (BPA) Forest Resource Enhancement Program (FREP) around the Black Volta Basin and other parts of the BPA?s acquired lands are being developed to promote sustainable forest regeneration.
The idea is to protect natural forest and also preserve indigenous knowledge of forest resources history in the area.
According to Mr. Wumbilla Salifu, External and Community Relations Manager of BPA, the FREP is generally meant to control and protect against soil erosion, sedimentation and depletion of vegetative cover in the Black Volta basin and the surrounding communities.
The Community Relations Manager also noted that because of the construction of the Bui Reservoir (Lake) which covers up to 444 km2, most of these forest areas will be affected in the process and hence the conscious effort by the BPA to regenerate the forest within its catchment area.
?Experience after the creation of the Volta Lake in 1964, showed human activities such as adoption of inappropriate farming methods, bush burning, tree harvesting, cattle grazing, fish smoking and sand winning increased rapidly and considerably in the Volta basin. Thus, the human activities caused forest depletion and had the tendency to effect accelerated erosion and sedimentation, as well as adverse climatic conditions in the lake basin?, he added.
Mr. Salifu stated that it is against this backdrop that the BPA is implementing the FREP to mitigate the issues raised above.
He indicated that the FREP under the auspices of the BPA is adopting a two prong approach in dealing with the issue in two pilot phases (Pilot A: Lakeside Afforestation for selected area up to 200m from the Bui Lake using hired labour from neighbouring communities and Pilot B: Buffer zones (greenbelt) Reforestation near the Bui Dam) and will be ultimately followed by the third and main project which is an extension of Pilots A and B and afforestation of un-utilized Acquired Lands.
He said, so far an estimated afforestation of a total area of 213.27 acres (planted with mahogany, teak, acascia and cedralla) has been accomplished.
It is expected that the forest that will be created under the FREP will benefit society by; protecting the Bui Lake system against soil erosion, reservoir siltation and sedimentation, thereby prolonging the life span of the lake to sustain such economic activities like electricity production, irrigation, tourism, agriculture, and water supply. Other benefits will include the improvement of microclimate, providing wind breaks, fuel wood, herbal medicine and commercially valuable products (timber). The FREP will also create job opportunities, recreation and tourism as well as providing habitat for a diversity of flora and fauna. A memory Centre to serve as a repository of knowledge of the use of biodiversity would be harness to compliment the salvage archaeology works which was carried out for future reference.
In a separate interview with the Chief of Jama, one of the communities at Bui, Nana Pambour confirmed the ongoing afforestation program and lauded the project.
He said, due to some activities of the people like farming and charcoal burning amongs other human activities it led to depletion of the forest cover and so they welcome the program even though there was some initial misunderstanding but had been settled amicably.
One of the laborers at the project sight David Ansukpien, who also spoke to this paper mentioned that apart from the fact that they are planting trees to secure the future of their communities it has also brought them some reliable source of income in the last three years since it started.
