Ghana: Ban on hunting starts Aug 1

The annual ban on hunting will begin on Monday, 1 August 2022 and ends on 1 December 2022, the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission has announced. The ban is in conformity with the Wildlife Conservation Regulation 1971, L.I.685.

“During this period, it shall be illegal for anybody to hunt, capture or destroy any wild animal except the grass cutter (Akrantie), which can be done only under licence issued by the Wildlife Division,” a statement from the Division said.

The statement advised the public to protect wildlife because “it is critical to our welfare.”

The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, responsible for Lands and Forestry, Benito Owusu-Bio has on Friday, 29th July 2022, launched the 2022 Closed Season.

He said that the institutionalization of the close season is one way to protect the wildlife species as it provides the necessary conditions needed for the animals to procreate, nurse and nurture young ones for replenishment.

He added that wild animals contribute significantly to the protection of the environment and without them, the environment or forests cannot thrive as they should. “Protecting them, therefore, at all cost is the sure way to safeguard the environment, especially when the impacts of climate change are increasingly becoming a threat to the planet earth and our very survival”.

Mr Owusu-Bio alluded that the Ministry is, therefore, committed to ensuring sustainable management and utilization of these resources and currently, the Wildlife Bill is before Parliament to be passed into law, adding that when this law comes into being, it will provide the legal framework to support the effective management of the resources.

It is important to anchor the point that the temporary embargo on hunting is in consonance with the Wildlife Conservation Regulation 1971, L.I.685.