THREAT TO OUR FOREST

REPORTS that demand for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) at Tema Oil Refinery has increased by 26.32 per cent within a year as a result of the switch from petrol to the use of gas by some commercial vehicles certainly has some implications for the country’s economy.
The conversion from petrol to gas, which is attributed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel, implies that the country should look for resources to increase the supply of LPG gas to meet growing demand.
It is difficult to fault commercial vehicle owners for switching from the use of petrol and diesel to gas, since as business operators they have it as their aim to reduce expenditure in order to maximise profits.
However, the Daily Graphic is worried about the report because the increased demand for LPG by commercial drivers could undermine the country’s effort to save the nation’s forest from further depletion as a result of the over-reliance on the use of charcoal and fuel wood.
Wood and charcoal are often burned in open fires or poorly functioning stoves and the incomplete combustion leads to the release of small particles and other constituents that have been shown to be damaging to human health in the household environment.
Since 1981, the annual rate of deforestation in the country has been two per cent per annum or 750 hectares each year. Currently Ghana's tropical forest area is just 25 per cent of its original size.
The impact of deforestation can be widespread and can affect the livelihoods of local people, disrupt important environmental functions and severely disturb the biological integrity of the original forest ecosystem. Already looming in the horizon are dramatic climatic change, soil erosion and large-scale desertification resulting in poor crop yields.
It is in this vein that the Daily Graphic calls on the authorities to work out a framework to regulate the use of LPG by the commercial vehicle operators and domestic users.
In addressing the challenges, it is our considered opinion that separate outlets could be made available at strategic locations for the consumers who want to use the gas for domestic purposes, while different price regimes could be introduced for those who use the product for commercial and domestic purposes.
When the product is made available to domestic users at affordable price, we would encourage more people to switch from the use of charcoal to LPG, thereby reducing pressures on the country’s already depleted forest resource.
The drive towards the use of LPG was launched in the 1980s with pomp and fanfare. It was meant to motivate households, particularly housewives and food joint operators, to stop the use of charcoal because of its effects on the country’s forest resources.
Many years on, it appears, as a country, we have a long way to go because the use of LPG is far from what was envisaged during the launch of the programme.
Several reasons could be adduced for the low patronage of the LPG. Price and availability have combined to discourage users from turning their back to charcoal.
Despite the drudgery associated with the use of charcoal, many ‘chop bar’ operators continue to rely heavily on the fuel wood for their operations and this is ironical.
The Daily Graphic believes that the authorities owe it as a duty to take steps to popularise the use of LPG by putting in place the necessary legal framework to make sure that deviants do not derail our efforts to protect the environment for their selfish gains.