Director of the Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) has called on communities to protect forest resources in their localities. Dr. Victor Agyeman believes communities could benefit immensely from better managed and regulated use of natural resources. He was speaking to Luv News at a handing over ceremony of the Community Forestry Management Project at Asempanaye in the Offinso district of Ashanti. Under the project, the Forestry Commission engaged 60 communities across the country in tree plantation on degraded forests. Beneficiary communities were provided training and funding to undertake the exercise. Participating farmers were supported to plant food crops in between the tree plantations to earn extra income and food security. The African Development Bank-funded project has been running for the past eight years and officially ends on 31st of December, 2010. Over 30,000 acres of forest have so far been re-generated under the community forestry management project. Dr. Victor Agyeman, who is also Project Manager, told Luv news “40% of matured tress will go to the farmers, another 40% to the government; 15% will go to the chiefs for providing the land and 5% to the community for their support”. According to him, involving the communities has been vital in preventing illegal felling of the trees by unscrupulous persons. Dr Agyeman noted that chieftaincy disputes had resulted in delays in processing documents to allocate percentage shares to the beneficiary communities. He therefore appealed to them to exercise patience as the Forestry Commission and other stakeholders work to resolve outstanding issues as soon as possible. Story by Kwabena Owusu-Ampratwum