EPA AWARDS DUUYIN FOR PRESERVING ENVIRONMENT (PAGE 23, OCT 4, 2010)

THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared Duuyin, a peri-urban farming community in the Tamale Metropolis, as the best environmentally friendly community in the Northern Region for 2010.
This follows the progress made by the community in preserving its vegetation through the avoidance of bush burning and other harmful environmental practices.
The community was presented with a certificate, cutlasses, wellington boots and water cans during this year’s Environmental Day celebration, which took place at Duuyin.
Awards were also presented to other individuals and institutions that have contributed immensely to promoting environmental sustainability.
The Daily Graphic, Enquirer and Advocate newspapers, as well as Radio Justice were awarded for devoting much of their news content to environmental issues, particularly those pertaining to the Northern Region.
The World Environmental Day, which falls on June 5 each year, was set aside by the United Nations in 1972 to stimulate worldwide awareness on the need to conserve the environment by advocating more political commitment and civil society involvement in conservation issues.
The Director of the EPA, Mr Iddrisu Abu, said more efforts needed to be made towards regenerating the north’s depleted forestry and vegetative resources in order to combat desertification.
He said activities like bush burning, charcoal production, illegal logging, surface mining and other harmful practices continued to impact negatively on the environment.
Mr Abu said the EPA was implementing the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP) which is a five-year (2009-2013) project that was designed to strengthen the capacity of public institutions and rural communities in the three northen regions, in order to reverse land degradation and desertification.
The GEMP is being funded by the Canadian Government through a special funding arrangement co-ordinated by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
The director said the EPA had facilitated the establishment of 20 Environmental Management Committees (EMCs) in all the districts, while over 100 of such committees had been established at the community levels as part of the GEMP implementation.
“In addition, we have formed 20 new environmental clubs in some basic and second cycle schools in the region, while 10 of such clubs which were defunct, have also been reactivated”, he further mentioned.
All these activities, Mr Abu stated, were expected to strengthen the beneficiary communities to be able to address environmental issues in a co-ordinated and sustained manner.
The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, said the environment and natural resources were like property that had been passed on from generation to generation due to its importance to life.
He said it was, therefore, prudent that the current generation utilised these resources wisely if they were not to deny future generations the use of these essential resources and re-echoed the saying, “when the last tree dies, the last man dies.”