Avatime launches campaign against illegal chainsaw operators
APART from its scenic and captivating beauty with the thick and evergreen vegetative cover on the mountain slopes, Avatime traditional area has also been known from time immemorial for its sub-tropical weather.
The cold temperature and the rich soil supported the large scale cultivation of apples, Irish potatoes and tea with guaranteed bountiful harvests.
These climatic and physiographical features are among the factors which attracted the German missionaries to the area about two centuries ago.
The Gemi Mountain, an icon tourists’ attraction for the country is at Amedzofe, in Avatime.
The rock folds at Biakpa in a green ambience which offers a wide view of the valleys from astonishing heights are among the wonders of the area.
As a result of the cold weather, mosquitoes were absent from Avatime, and for that matter there were no cases of malaria.
Today, however, mosquitoes are invading Avatime as temperatures are soaring.
The century’s old and towering trees on the slopes of mountains are fast disappearing in the wake of the activities of the timber mafia in the area’s woods.
“We are already suffering the effects of climate change,” complained the Osie of Avatime, Osie Adzatekpor VII.
According to him, the severe encroachment of the forest by chainsaw operators has now resulted in the yearly and massive crop failures on farms in Avatime.
To reverse the trend, Osie Adza Tekpor said in an interview at Vane yesterday that committees had been set up in each of the seven towns of the traditional area to monitor and control the activities of chainsaw operators.
He said in an interview that before anyone would cut a tree in the area, he or she would first have to grow a tree and nurture it for a while before operating a chainsaw in the forest.
The Osie of Avatime warned that any chainsaw operators, who engaged in the indiscriminate felling of trees henceforth, would suffer swift and ruthless consequences.
“Any attack on our forests is an attack on the people of Avatime, and that will incur the wrath of not only the traditional authorities but also on all the seven towns of Avatime,” he added.
The Osie stated that the traditional authorities had taken a firm and uncompromising stance to hand over unruly chainsaw operators to the police and pursue the case to the fullest degree.
“We want to keep our area green all the time, to ensure that our children and children’s children become inheritors and not just survivors,”he insisted.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, VANE
