The Hotspot Intervention Area (HIA) Management Board Members- the apex decision-making body of the governance structures developed under the premier emission reductions programme dubbed the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme (GCFRP) has rejected calls by A Rocha Ghana for ghana to be removed as Co-Chair of the Forest & Climate Leaders' Partnership (FCLP).At COP27, world leaders launched the FCLP, and the Ghana government was given the position of Co-Chair alongside the US government.According to A Rocha, Ghana accepting the position of FCLP Co-chair meant that the President and his government were ready to lead the world in sustainable forest management, but they have done the opposite.Although Ghana's Co-Chair position ends in November, A Rocha wants Ghana stripped of the position with immediate effect.A Rocha, in a letter to the US Embassy dated October 9, noted "We want to put on record our conviction that the Ghana government is no longer fit to Co-Chair the FCLP and should be removed from this position with immediate effect.
Below are our reasons, backed up by evidence: In early 2023, questions were being asked in Parliament about the state of Ghana's forests.
The government responded that the ecological integrity of the Forest Reserves was intact, a statement that was clearly untrue and civil society was quick to call them out."In May 2023, the government presented a clearer picture of the state of Ghana's Forest Reserves and Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs) showing they were far from intact.
Three reserves - the Oda River, Apamprama, and Subin Shelterbelt - were classified as active galamsey (illegal small-scale mining) sites requiring military support to flush the miners out."Apamprama was already 49% destroyed.