The Executive Director of the Forum for Natural Regeneration (FONAR), Sumaila Seidu Saaka has disclosed that 750 hectares of degraded land in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region have been restored through the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration approach.
Mr. Saaka in an interview with Dreamz News noted that this approach is the surest and cheapest way of getting communities to fully embrace efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change.
The Talensi District has gained notoriety for mining activities, some of which are largely illegal and have resulted in several hectares of lands being degraded and will require concerted efforts to prevent further degradation and promote restoration efforts.
Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) comprises a set of practices used by farmers to encourage the growth of native trees on agricultural land. FMNR is widely acclaimed to ensure a number of positive impacts, including increasing agricultural productivity through soil fertility improvement and feed for livestock, incomes, and other environmental benefits.
This approach is widely embraced in Africa as a cost-effective way of restoring degraded land and overcoming the challenge of low survival rates associated with tree planting in arid and semi-arid areas.
FONAR, having worked with World Vision Ghana to restore degraded land, organized a two-day training on Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration and Environmental Education lesson planning with support from Awaken Trees Foundation for teachers in some 15 schools with a club membership of 20 each to promote natural regeneration as a cheap and sustainable way of combating desertification and mitigating the impact of climate change in the early days of February, 2022
Mr. Seidu Saaka is therefore urging Farmers in Ghana’s North to take natural regeneration seriously in a bid to ensure food security.
“Farmers are always the first people to bear the brunt especially in our part of the world where our farming system is basically subsistence that is to feed yourself first. So, if you are not able to feed yourself how do you even get some to sell to other people? We would therefore want to encourage farmers in Ghana’s North to take natural regeneration seriously since we are prone to desertification.
So, farmers are key and they helped us in Talensi to restore 750 hectares of land that was seriously degraded in Talensi”. He stated
Mr. Seidu Saaka also explained why FONAR through the support of Josef Ertl, Founder and President of Awaken Trees Foundation of Austria has revamped the school eco clubs project in 15 primary schools in Talensi District.
“During a ten-year period, we instituted some eco-clubs so we have revamped these clubs in 15 schools with a membership of 20 each bringing the entire figure to 3000. There is the need to catch them young and help them to appreciate the dangers of climate change and the need to protect the environment hence the establishment of the clubs in the 15 primary schools”. He indicated.
