Worldwide forests are suffering from degradation. Fortunately, there are people who protect, conserve and restore forests. One of those people is Dr. Lucy Amissah, Senior Research Scientist at CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. In an interview she shares her experiences with reforestation and natural regeneration. “People think that after planting a tree the work is done. But actually the real work, maintenance, only starts after planting the tree.” From Amissah’s perspective, removing the threats to forests is more efficient. By removing threats such as wildfire and grazing, forests can start to regenerate and bounce back. “Sometimes, the only thing you have to do is leave the forest alone and let it do the work”.
Under the Landscape Restoration Programme for Tain II Forest Reserve, Lucy’s contribution was crucial to make the restoration of 1,075 hectares of Eastern Guinean Lowland forest a success. This was a restoration initiative in collaboration with CSIR-FORIG and is managed by Form Ghana, supported by Form International and DOB Ecology.
Read the full interview with Dr. Lucy Amissah here.