Minister of Land and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has announced Government intention to plant five million (5,000,000) trees under a project dubbed “Plant a Tree to Green Ghana”.
According to him, the project slated for 11th June 2021, will see President Akufo-Addo plant a commemorative tree on that day, with the Vice President, the Speaker of Parliament, and the Chief Justice all doing the same
He said, other prominent citizens such as the Asantehene, the Yaa-Naa, and a host of other distinguished personalities will be called upon to support the project with their prestige, by publicly planting trees on the day.
Mr Jinapor who made this known on the floor of parliament, in statement to commemorate the United Nations International Day of Forest which fell on 21st March, 2021 stressed that, the “project will see to the planting of five million (5,000,000) Commercial and other trees, in all sixteen (16) Regions, in one day”, “we are all going to Plant A Tree To Green Ghana”.
The Minister added that when the project succeeds, it will significantly increase the forest cover of the country.
“In the medium to long term, we intend to ramp-up this campaign to result in the planting of one hundred million (100,000,000) trees. This initiative is aligned with the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy (2016-2040) and our commitments to various international agreements, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), African Landscape Restoration Initiative (AF100) and the Bonn Challenge” Mr Jinapor added.
He said, government anticipates “mobilizing the mass of our population to plant trees, nurture them to maturity, and contribute to the preservation of our environment.
Parliament, political leaders, traditional leaders, Corporate Ghana, activists in the green world, leaders of local government, teachers, nurses, informal sector employees, and ordinary Ghanaians will be galvanized to contribute their resources, energies and support to make the Green Ghana”
In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly declared 21st March of every year as the International Day of Forests.
This day is set aside to create global awareness on the Importance of all types of forests and trees outside forest enclaves.
This decision was taken in response to national and international concerns on the high rate of deforestation and forest degradation recorded across the globe.
Further, the consequential adverse impact of Climate Change on the livelihoods and economic development of many nations, especially developing countries, contributed significantly to this global consciousness on the need to protect the global eco-system.
On each International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving tree planting campaigns.
The global theme for the celebration is “Forest Restoration: A Path to Recovery and Well-Being”.
Ghana, has, however, modified this global theme slightly to meet its National Policy on Forestry with the theme as “Forest Landscape Restoration: Planting 5 Million Trees in a Day”.
Story By: Edzorna Francis Mensah
