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Ms Barbara Serwaah Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has called on scientists to intensify their research into indigenous tree species to encourage more people to plant them to sustain the forests.

     She said successful studies into the Mahogany species, which had received nationwide acceptance and resulted in large scale plantation by farmers, should be extended to other equally important native species to improve productivity under the National Forest Plantation programme.

     Ms Asamoah made the call at the opening of a one week international conference under the theme: “Towards Sustainable Production of Mahogany Species in Plantations in Tropical Africa and Training Workshop on Timber Verification Project,” at the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) on Tuesday.

      It was organised by FORIG with support from the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and the Thünen Institute of Forest Genetics in Germany.

     The conference was to share findings from collaborative research study funded by the ITTO to improve the sustainability of indigenous Mahogany in Ghana’s forest reserves.

       In attendance are; researchers, industry and community tree farmers from Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cote d’ Ivoire, Liberia and Cameroon.

       Ms Asamoah said Mahogany was excluded from the list of suitable species for the National Forest Plantation programme due to its vulnerability to pest infection.

      However, after series of research and trials, Mahogany was now among the most preferred species for plantation by farmers.

     This is due to the availability of research information that it is very successful when mixed with other species.

      She said Mahogany and other indigenous species such as Odum and Ofram had been major export earners and there was the need to encourage farmers to plant them not only to maintain the forest estate but also increase foreign exchange.

      Dr E. Opuni-Frimpong, Project Leader, said the study was in response to the threat of possible extinction of Mahogany and other indigenous species in tropical forests.

      He said native tree species plantations had been abandoned due to pest and diseases.

     Dr Opuni-Frimpong said the project was to develop a superior Mahogany species that could withstand pests, diseases and drought.

     Through the project, Mahogany mixed plantations had been established across the country with community farmers having accepted and adopted it for planting on their farms.

     Dr Adu Bledu, Acting Director of FORIG, said the prime concern of the Institute was the sustainable management of forest resources and would, therefore, continue to undertake research to improve and promote the sustainability of the country’s forest resources.