A Civil Society Organisation, Mass Action Committee, has kicked against government's decision to declassify the Achimota Forest Reserve.

According to the Organisation, the move is unacceptable and must not be allowed to materialize.

The Executive Secretary, Atik Mohammed in a signed document, described as disappointing, the issuance by the government of Executive Instruments 144 and 154 relative to the Achimota Forest Reserve.

“This singular action by government does not only offend our collective effort at environmental sustainability, but it undermines our commitment to major international instruments, protocols and agreements. One such instrument that leap readily to mind is, SDG 15.

“We are enjoined by this goal among others, to sustainably manage our forests, halt and reverse land degradation. In particular, we are expected to achieve the 0.0 target in permanent deforestation - permanent deforestation is described as “tree cover removal for urbanization, commodity production and certain types of small-scale agriculture”.

“Ghana’s performance on this indicator stood at 0.8 as of 2018 (Sachs et al 2021). This reflects how badly we are protecting our forest cover. With this state, it is expected that government’s actions toward the few urban forest reserves we have especially Accra’s, would be to achieve one end only-their protection. That is why we find the Executive Instruments obnoxious in the superlative."

The Committee also believed that the Owoo Family do not deserve any parts of the Reserve.

According to them, the reserve is the common resource and cannot be sacrificed in part or in whole to satisfy any private claim especially when such claim is not grounded in law.

“All leases allegedly granted to that family must be revoked. We must guard and preserve the entire reserve for our own benefit and the benefit of future generations.

“Meanwhile, we reject the apparent notion loudly, albeit subtly articulated by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources that, because they find no evidence of any compensation payment to the Owoo family for the 1927 acquisition, grant of the so-called leases and the subsequent Executive Instruments have a fair grounding.”

This follows the wide circulation of an eight-page document on social media, which purported to mean that the classification of the Achimota Forest Reserve has been lifted to pave the way for a possible redevelopment for other purposes.

The Instrument gazetted on behalf of President Akufo-Addo by the Lands Minister, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, stipulated that effective May 1, 2022, the land on which the Forest is located shall cease to be a forest reserve, pursuant to Section 19 of the Forest Act, 1927 (CAP. 157).

The cessation, per that document, was to be effective on May 1, 2022.

However, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said the government is not selling the land.

According to him, plans are rather afoot to upgrade the Achimota Forest into a world-class asset.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, May 17, the sector Minister emphasised that widespread reports about the supposed sale of the Forest are false and baseless, as government has no such plans.

“The government intends to enrich the Achimota forest, revamp it and hopefully in the not too distant future, transform it into the likes of High Park of London and Central Park of New York, where Ghanaians can go and enjoy the beauty of nature and forest reserve as it happens in other parts of the world”.