FC, VRA sign MoU to protect Volta Lake

The Forestry Commission (FC) and the Volta River Authority (VRA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Accra, to undertake bamboo plantation along the Volta Lake, to protect the Volta Lake and sustain hydropower generation.

The MoU involves the establishment of a 270-hectare plantation, “dubbed “planting of bamboo for the protection of the Volta Lake”, to serve as a buffer zone to protect the lake from encroachment.

The MoU was signed on behalf of the FC, by Mr John Allotey, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and  Mr Ebenezer Tagoe Deputy CEO  of the VRA, signed on behalf of his organisation.

The CEO of the FC, Mr Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, said the project, which was a collaboration between the two organisations, was to pool resources to protect the Volta Lake with bamboo plantation, from this year to 2030.

He indicated that at the end of the project, it was expected that people staying along the lake would realise the ecological and socio-economic benefits of bamboo.

The Deputy CEO of the VRA, said in 2018, the authority established a joint working team with the FC to coordinate the project which would include the protecting of the Volta Lake.

He said the plantation would be cultivated on the VRA acquired lands, to create a buffer zone to avoid encroachment, prevent erosion, reduce the rate of evaporation of the lake and promote socio-economic importance of bamboo for sustainable development. 

Similarly, another MoU was signed between the FC and Owirenkyiman Traditional Council and Praxis Africa, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), on sustainable development in the Central Region for forest restoration.

The MoU was signed between the FC and Owirenkyiman by Mr John Allotey and Ms Abena Drowaa Member of Parliament for Assin North respectively.

The overall goal of the Owirenkyiriman Forest Restoration Project was to address issues of forest cover, carbon sequestration and improve livelihood of the rural communities.

It is also meant to build on the comparative strengths of the parties, to work towards the effective awareness creation and public education of forest and wildlife management in the Owirenkyiman traditional area, plant and nurture 48,000 medicinal, fruit and timber tree species, undertake amenity planting within the various communities in the Assin Owirenkyiman traditional area.

SETH ADU AGYEI