By Felix Coffie
Over 22 million seedlings were distributed for the 2022 GreenGhana Day exceeding the 20 million target set by the government. Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Benito Owusu-Bio, who is also the National Chairman for the 2022 Green Ghana Planning Committee at a media briefing in Accra to update the country on the GreenGhana project said the “Ministry is going to embark on an effective monitoring and supervision of the seedlings planted to achieve more than the 80% result achieved in last year’s exercise”.
The Green Ghana Initiative is a collective action toward the restoration of degraded landscapes in the country, mitigating climate change, and inculcating in the youth the values of planting and nurturing trees and their associated benefits.
The initiative which began last year saw the planting of some 5 million trees in both forest reserves and off forest reserves. The government this year targeted 20 million trees but exceeded the target by some two million.
Deputy Lands Minister Benito Owusu Bio said the “survival rate this year’s will be more than the 85% survival rate last year.
The Ministry he noted has put in place a Monitoring and Assessment Team under the Chairmanship of Francis Manu-Adabor, who is the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry to undertake a comprehensive field assessment of trees planted this year which include the CEO of the Forestry Commission.”
In responding to a question by the media on the budget and expenditure of the Green Ghana Day, Mr. Owusu-Bio disclosed that GHC 6 million cedis was disbursed to the Ministry for the Green Ghana Day, out of which the 22 million tree seedlings were obtained, which also included publicity and other expenses in the lead up to the planting.
He added that subsequently, a detailed report of the expenses will be made available to the public.
The CEO of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey noted that among the 16 regions, the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono, Bono East, Eastern, and the Greater Accra Regions exceeded their target while the Northern, North East, and Oti Regions are yet to meet their target due to low rainfall in these regions.
He said, from the 50% initial target in the forest reserves, 40.2% were planted and the other 50% for homes and other locations were 59.8%.
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