Abstract
Forests play important roles in maintaining and balancing the natural ecosystem. The high rates of deforestation in recent years however have become concerned for all governments all over the world. The high rates have resulted in a number of climatic changes such as global warming with its effects on the global environment giving rise to sea levels and the resultant adverse effects. The role of forest cover in hydrological and carbon cycles in the atmosphere is enough evidence of its importance and the need to protect its cover. Between 1900 and 1999, more than 6.5 million hectors of forest was degraded in Ghana according to a report published at the website of mongabay.com. Further, between 1990 and 2010, the country lost an average of 125,400 hectors of forest or 1.68% per year. In total, between this period alone, Ghana lost 33.7% of its forest cover which is equivalent to 2,508,000 hectors of forest, (FAO, 2011). This data reveals that the rate of detestation in Ghana is quite high. Deforestation is one of the main environmental challenges in Ghana and efforts are being undertaken to protect the endangered forest cover from absolute depletion and also to establish secondary forests.
Highlights
Ghana is located in West Africa along the coast of Gulf of Guinea
It can be said that the exploitation of these resources for either domestic use or for export have contributed to deforestation in the country
In the recent years these natural forests have been under pressure of exploitations for the growing population. This has some direct effect on the high rates of deforestation and their negative effects on the environment are so obvious
Summary
Ghana is located in West Africa along the coast of Gulf of Guinea. It has a total land area of 238, 537 km[2]. In the recent years these natural forests have been under pressure of exploitations for the growing population This has some direct effect on the high rates of deforestation and their negative effects on the environment are so obvious. According to www.mongabay.com (2014), available data indicates that between 1900 and 1950, 4.2 million hectares of forests were degraded in Ghana out of a total of 8.4 that the country had at the beginning of the century. This was further degraded to only 1.9 million hectares by 1999 This is a clear indication that the rate of deforestation in Ghana has become critical and this needs attention in order to save the country's forest resources from total depletion.
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