Samuel Abdulai Jinapor
Ghana’s most ambitious greening project comes off today as five million tree seedlings are planted countrywide.
The project, which President Akufo-Addo mentioned in his last State of the Nation Address to Parliament, is intended to arrest the declining forest cover of the country in the bid to protect forest reserves and water bodies.
Dubbed ‘Green Ghana’ and being driven by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources through the Forestry Commission, the sector minister Samuel Abdulai Jinapor has called for the support of all Ghanaians to join in the tree planting crusade.
With a depletion of the country’s economic trees, the minister said the need for a tree planting exercise on a scale such as today is necessary to reverse the situation and ensure sustainable development.
No stone has been left unturned towards making today’s exercise a successful one, he said. Evidence of the success of the exercise is already being felt as some churches have already begun the exercise even before today’s mega event.
According to the minister, economic trees to be planted today include Wawa, Mango, Rosewood and Shea trees, and said they have already distributed them to the 16 regions.
He said “the Greater Accra Region has received 450,000 seedlings, Central Region has received 400, 000, Western Region has received 250,000, we gave Western North 420,000, and Ashanti Region 1,000,000 seedlings. The rest were: Ahafo 170,000, Bono 250,000, Bono East 300,000, Eastern 750,000, Volta 200,000, Oti 150,000, Northern 250,000, North East 120,000, Savannah 250,000, Upper East 170,000, and Upper West 150,000.”
“We are very much prepared for the event as we are ready to plant some five million trees across the country in a way of investment for the future. We are talking about the Timber, Wawa, Nim, Rosewood, and Shea trees,” he said.
Today’s event will commence with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, and the Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin Yeboah, planting trees.
A monitoring and evaluation team will be set up, the minister announced, to determine the progress of the seedlings after the planting exercise across the country.
“On a quarterly arrangement and eventually at the end of the year on the first anniversary of the 2021 Green Ghana Day, we will take stock as to how we have fared and there will be a comprehensive report delivered to Ghanaians as to how many of the trees survived and how many are at what stage of development etc.
“This is not going to be the usual thing. We plant the trees and walk away, we will plant the trees, nurse, nurture them and monitor in a very scientific way and methodical way to ensure that we see to the progress of these trees,” he said.
When he spoke earlier about the appalling state of our forests President Akufo-Addo said, “We cannot sit by and watch as our trees, flora and fauna are wiped out. Our very existence is tied directly to the survival of trees. Without the oxygen produced by trees, we cannot survive as humans.
“Lend your support to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as it executes this ambitious national assignment. I will be planting a tree and I expect you too to plant one. Let us make ‘Ghana Green’.”
By A.R. Gomda