Mr Kwaku Kwaakye watering the tree after planting.
First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has made a passionate appeal for the planting of more trees in communities and towns.
The First Lady said the action if taken by Ghanaians will restore the country’s lost forests, repair its damaged ecosystems and mitigate climate change.
She made the appeal during World Environment Day and the launch of the Planting for Now and Future by the Department of Parks and Gardens, at the Aburi Botanic Gardens.
Mrs Akufo-Addo represented by Kwaku Kwaakye of the Rebecca Foundation, said trees influence everything in the environment including physical health.
“Without trees to regulate and maintain the environment, there would be no life. Trees produce oxygen which is vital to life on earth,” she said.
The First lady urged Ghanaians to make a difference by planting and caring for trees in their homes and public spaces, reiterating expert opinion that if everyone planted one tree annually and cared for it there would be 75 billion new trees within the next 10 years.
She disclosed that the Rebecca Foundation is taking a step towards restoring the ecosystem by partnering with the Department of Parks and Gardens to plant a million trees across the country, over the next two years.
To seal the partnership, a tree was planted on behalf of the First Lady in the Aburi Botanic Garden.
Mrs. Akufo-Addo said, “Today as we plant a tree to launch this project, I do so with a sense of humility and confidence that decades and centuries later, someone will stand under this tree, touch it, connect to its presence and stand in awe of nature”, she added.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri