Thanks to Form Ghana's Integrated Community Fire Management Project (ICFMP), no wildfires were recorded in its Berekum leased area in the 2023/2024 fire season.

Before the company commenced its restoration work in the Tain II Forest Reserve (also known as the Berekum plantation) in 2013, years of neglect and illegal logging replaced indigenous forests with savannah grass, bush, crop and grazing lands.

Wildfires are inevitable during the dry season when they are fuelled by people and the harmattan wind from the Sahara Desert in the north.

Form Ghana's incident monitoring and analysis research shows a downward trend of wildfire incidents since 2018. The Incident Command Centre in Berekum recorded 317 fires in the 2023-2024 fire season, of which 225 were controlled burns and 92 were wildfires.

Of the wildfires, 60% occurred outside the Berekum ICFMP boundary. The 40% within the boundary were mainly in the Meremano and Koraso communities, far from the nine participating fringe communities and had no impact on them.

"We are pleased that by collaborating with the Ghana National Fire Service and groups like school children, youth and women in the fringe communities, we are minimising the risk of wildfires", comments Paul Ontoaneyin, the company's Environmental, Social and Governance Manager

"Our Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Department conducts regular community reviews. The participants confirm that understanding the causes and consequences of fire, the fire danger index, the Fire Wise activities of the Fire Volunteer Squads (FVS), the company's assistance with controlled burns and other collaborative fire management strategies are contributing to the downward trend", explains Ontoaneyin.

"Form Ghana incorporates lessons learned from continual monitoring and assessment of the programme to ensure we increase its efficiency and effectiveness".