Forest degradation, illegal logging, agricultural expansion, mining, and climate change continue to threaten Ghana’s forests, which are central to biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, livelihoods, and economic development.
The Young Forest Champions initiative develops youth leadership by recognising and mentoring outstanding young people working in forestry, restoration and climate action.
This year’s workshop brings together the 2025 and 2026 cohorts with government, academia and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nation to strengthen technical capacity, promote peer learning and build a national network of digitally enabled forest leaders.
The initiative is being executed by the Accelerating Innovative Monitoring for Forests (AIM4Forests), a programme at the Forestry Division of the FAO supporting countries to strengthen National Forest Monitoring Systems through improved forest data, digital technologies, and evidence-based decision-making.
The programme was put together by FAO Representation in Ghana; Forestry Commission and the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources at KNUST.
Ms. Eva Ntara, AIM4Forests Youth Engagement Specialist at FAO, speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop in Kumasi, said forest monitoring was very important to the Organisation, which has been building capacities of government officials and young people to be able to appreciate the importance of forests, challenges and formulate ways to address them.
She explained that the Young Forest Champions initiative, which started in 2024 in Kenya assessed the need to involve young people in forest matters and the results have now been extended to some countries in Africa including Ghana.
For 2026, 10 forest champions have been selected to increase awareness of Ghana’s forestry, restoration and digital forest monitoring priorities, showcase youth-led forestry, restoration, and biodiversity initiatives as well as to demonstrate how digital forestry tools support National Forest Monitoring Systems under AIM4Forests.
The workshop will also strengthen advocacy, communications and leadership skills and promote peer learning and future collaboration between the 2025 and 2026 cohorts, Ms. Ntara announced.
Madam Tessia Ama Boatemaa Boateng of the Climate Change Unit of the Forestry Commission said the Commission had over the years worked with FAO citing that the forest champions initiative could bolster good forest governance in Ghana.
“It is good that we are involving the young people through training and learning from them.
Some of them have great ideas on conserving the forest which will ultimately make us have a better forest in Ghana.”
Mr. Theophilus Delali Dumenyo, a 2025 Young Forest Champion, emphasised the youth’s participation in forest governance as very crucial in sanitising the forest.
He called on stakeholders to incentivise the youth in partaking in activities regarding the environment and forest ecosystem.
Professor Emmanuel Acheampong, Dean, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, KNUST, proposed that in sustaining such projects, the initiative can be run as a summer school model where graduate students can apply and be competitively selected to be part of the programme.
By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA