President Akufo-Addo has set a target of 20million trees to be planted in this year’s Green Ghana Project.
At the launch in Accra this morning, he noted with concern that “despite the importance of the forest to human existence, our forests are depleting at an alarming rate.”
That, he said was because “some18 years ago, half of the earth’s surface was covered by forest; with an estimated forest area of 4 billion hectares, forest cover less than 30% of the world’s surface.”
He, therefore, noted that “in the last three decades alone, the world has lost 1 billion and 37 million, 846 thousand, 602 arches of the forest, more than 10% of the current total forest area.”
“More troubling is the current date that shows that globally, we are losing 150 arches of rain forest every single minute, 200,000 arches a day and 79 million a year and this is just rain forest” he added.
To deal with this challenging situation, President Akufo-Addo noted that his administration has “embarked on an aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme aimed at restoring our lost forest cover and halting the current rate of deforestation.”
He, therefore, called on all whether Ghanaians or foreign nationals to as it were “join us today to plant at least 20 million trees.”
“I call on members of Parliament, members of Corporate Ghana, traditional leaders, entrepreneurs, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, judges, workers, farmers, bankers, students, religious leaders, traders, civil servants, public servants, members of the diplomatic corps and indeed, every person living in Ghana as well as those visiting Ghana on Green Ghana Day, to help us plant these trees” he added.
“Together, let us build a greener future, for current and future generations of Ghanaians and mankind” Akufo-Addo further stated.
Globally, he said, “some 1.6 billion people depend on the forest for their livelihoods, and in Ghana, some 85% of the population rely on forest resources for subsistence to satisfy their socio-cultural needs.”
Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor indicated that the 2022 nationwide tree planting exercise will see 10 million of the 20 million trees being planted in forest reserves across the country.
The remaining 10 million will be planted in unforest reserves including water sheds, boundaries, office compounds, and sites within communities such as parks, roadsides, homes, Churches, Mosques, schools, and other significant areas.
“Given the very ambitious nature of our target, we have had to mobilize 20 million seedlings, distribute them, get them planted and develop a framework to nurture them to maturity,” Jinapor said.
Here in Ghana, he said statistics show that the country has lost some 100,000 arches of natural forest in the last decade alone. “
The target of the Green Ghana project this year is to plant at least 20 million trees.
The Green Ghana initiative seeks to create enhanced national awareness of the necessity for collective action towards the restoration of degraded landscape in the country, inculcate in the youth the value of planting and nurturing trees and their associated benefits, mitigate watershed, enhance livelihoods for communities through engagement in the production of trees seedlings and beautify our communities and environment.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent