Ghana’s forest cover has declined by more than 75% since the country gained independence in 1957, according to a report in the Accra Mail.
Ghana’s Forestry Minister, Esther Obeng Dapaah, told the annual general meeting of the Ghana Timber Association that forest cover in the country now stood at below 2 Mha, compared to 8 Mha 50 years ago. Dapaah said that over-logging, by both illegal operators and contracted companies; the expansion of industry; conversion of forest into agricultural land; and other land use changes had driven the decline.