Editorial (The Daily Searchlight, Thursday, May 19th, 2022)
The Achimota Forest has been much in the news lately, following revelations that certain peripheral portions of it has been released to the family with the allodial title, for development.
It has also been in the news over revelations that as far back as 2016, the government of Ghana had signed agreements with private developers to develop the land into an eco-tourism park.
The forest has also been in the news, over news that it has been virtually decimated by destructive elements styling themselves as Christians who constantly go into it with the pretext of praying, thereby destroying large portions of flora and fauna, and chasing away all the wildlife that used to live in the forest.
To our mind, these destructive human beings should have been chased out of the forest at the end of whips, and it is a sad testimony of our level of mental and aesthetic development that we have allowed them to become virtual denizens of the forest, destroying it with their very existence.
Given the strategic position of the Achimota Forest, and the fact that it is also at the very centre of the city of Accra, we believe that the time may have come for government to take a final and enduring decision on the fate of the forest, that would stand the test of time.
We believe that the first of such decisions, would be completely wall and put a physical boundary around what remains of the forest.
The second decision, would be to seek to replant and replenish to forest in an ecologically acceptable manner, and to seek to attract back into its fold the life forms that used to live there.
The third thing we can do, additionally, is to pursue the mission to turn portions of the forest into an inner city eco-park, for visitors, The number of visitors at any particular time would be restricted to ensure that they do not become a threat to the forest.
We believe that if strategically done, we can retain much of the forest in its former glory, whilst also making it an attractive park.
Whatever the case, the time has come for a decision to be taken on the future of the Achimota Forest.
