The successes chalked exceeded expected target of 400,000 hectares of CREMAS.

 Mr John Naada, Regional Manager, Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission in the Upper East Region revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Monday in Bolgatanga.

Mr Naada said the six CREMAS were sandwiched between the Nazinga Game Reserve, Gbele Resource and the Mole National Park enclave and noted that the success was as result of acceptance and commitment of communities that have come to appreciate the need to protect natural resource that would support life.

   Mr Naada indicated that his outfit and partners were not resting on their oars and indicated that it was necessary to do more to ensure communities got benefit s of the protected areas and said the introduction of CREMAs in the region was aimed at supporting local communities to take control of their environment and their own natural resources.

 He stated “government cannot protect natural resources in the country alone and therefore the CREMA concept is for communities to help government to protect these natural resources”.

 He called for good management of the protected forests for generation to come.

 He acknowledged the laborious nature of establishing CREMAs and said a high degree of commitment and acceptance was a requirement to sustaining interest of the communities involved.

Stating some of the challenges encountered in the establishment of CREMAs, Mr Naada indicated that resources were key to working with communities to make them masters of their own, and added that the achievement made in seven years could not determine that all communities had knowledge about CREMA and the need for the protection of natural resources.

 To this end he called for support for his outfit to intensify its work and asked for human capital, financial and logistics support to sensitize communities.

 He further called for increased partnership to ensure that the policy for which CREMAs were established could achieve the needed results.