Stakeholders appeal for urgent logistical support for national bushfire prevention campaign
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has appealed for urgent logistical support to enable it to effectively implement the 2026/2027 National Bushfire Prevention Campaign.
The appeal was made on Wednesday by the National Bushfire Prevention Campaign Stakeholders Planning Committee on behalf of the GNFS ahead of the national campaign launch scheduled for Friday, September 25, 2026, at Atebubu in the Bono East Region.
The campaign is being held under the theme, “Bushfire Prevention: A Collective Action for Sustainable Environmental Development and a Greener Ghana.”
The Committee said the GNFS urgently needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other firefighting tools to enhance the capacity of personnel and community volunteers to prevent and respond to bushfires.
“We are appealing for support in the form of Personal Protective Equipment including Wellington boots, combat and safety boots, fire-resistant overalls, nose guards, face masks, respirators, hand gloves, and safety helmets.
“Other needs are firefighting tools such as modern fire beaters, cutlasses, slashers, rakes, shovels, and backpack sprayers, as well as operational logistics including motorbikes for rapid patrols, bicycles for community volunteers, torchlights, megaphones, whistles, and first aid kits,” the Stakeholders Planning Committee stated during a meeting with the GNFS in Accra.
The meeting, held at the GNFS Headquarters in Accra, focused on the campaign strategy, implementation and resource mobilisation for the 2026/2027 season.
It brought together representatives of key state institutions, development partners and civil society organisations to finalise arrangements for the national, regional and district launches of the campaign.
The stakeholders included the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Forestry Commission, National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult).
Others were TROPENBOS Ghana, National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Committee said the requested support would help protect GNFS personnel and Community Fire Volunteers, expand patrol coverage in fire-prone districts and facilitate the education of more than one million farmers and students.
It therefore called on the government, Corporate Ghana, development partners, non-governmental organisations, philanthropists and climate-conscious citizens to support the GNFS with critical bushfire prevention logistics.
The Committee noted that Ghana loses thousands of hectares of farmlands, forest reserves and properties to bushfires annually, contributing to climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation and threats to food security.
It said the losses also undermined Ghana’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 15, which focus on Climate Action and Life on Land, as well as the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
According to the Committee, the GNFS remains critically under-resourced at the district and rural operational levels, where most bushfires occur, as the country prepares for the 2026/2027 bushfire season, which peaks between November and March.
“Our gallant fire officers and community fire volunteers are ready to sacrifice, but they lack the most basic protective and operational logistics to respond effectively. We cannot fight 21st-century climate-induced fires with bare hands,” the Committee said.
It stressed that bushfire prevention should no longer be regarded solely as a responsibility of the Fire Service but as a frontline climate action requiring collective national effort.
The Committee further noted that the state spends millions of cedis annually on fire response and relief, arguing that investing in prevention would save the country billions of cedis while empowering local volunteers and promoting environmental stewardship.
It said the 2026/2027 campaign was designed to be the most progressive, purposeful and expansive, covering all 16 regions through intensive durbars, school outreach programmes, radio sensitisation, fire belt creation and rapid response patrols.
The Committee also urged communities to establish early warning systems, adopt controlled burning practices, enact and enforce anti-bushfire bylaws at the district assembly level, and intensify education among farmers, hunters, charcoal producers and herdsmen, whom it identified as major risk groups.
The GNFS reiterated its commitment to working with all partners to build nationwide awareness and resilience while protecting Ghana’s ecosystems and farmlands to safeguard food security and strengthen climate resilience.
The Atebubu launch is expected to attract more than 3,000 participants, including the Minister of the Interior, the Bono East Regional Minister, the President of the Regional House of Chiefs, Members of Parliament, representatives of the Atebubu Traditional Council, farmers, students and security services.
Activities will include a high-level stakeholder dialogue, live demonstrations of firefighting equipment, community durbars and a mass public education exercise.
Following the launch, the campaign will be cascaded to all 16 regions through the GNFS Rural Fires Directorate to ensure that communities across the country are adequately prepared as the harmattan season intensifies.
