Kwadaso (Ash), June 11, GNA – A total of 4, 908 tree seedlings are to be planted by the Kwadaso Municipal Assembly as part of measures to improve the ecosystem.
The tree species range from guava, teak, coconut, royal palm to mahogany.
The environmental initiative is in line with the ‘Green Ghana Project’, being spearheaded by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to help improve the country’s lost forest cover.
“Without oxygen, mankind will not survive,” Dr Kingsley Nyarko, Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), after planting a symbolic tree at Beposo in the Kwadaso Municipality to commence the Project.
More than one million trees are expected to be planted across the Ashanti Region in line with the Project, according to the Forestry Commission (FC), which nursed and provided the seedlings.
Emphasizing the importance of trees, the MP explained that the varied species were critical to the sustenance of life on earth.
He indicated that the ecology and biodiversity could not thrive without the availability of trees, which help in regulating one’s breath.
Dr Nyarko tasked the FC to monitor and supervise the seedlings to ensure successful growth, urging all stakeholders to join in the campaign to protect the environment.
He lauded the government for playing an instrumental role in the fight against unhealthy environmental practices such as deforestation, illegal small-scale mining and tree felling.
Mr Richmond Agyenim Boateng, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), speaking to the GNA on the sideline of the programme, welcomed the government’s bold decision to reverse the harm caused to the environment.
“There is the need for Ghanaians to ensure that the ecosystem is kept in balance,” he noted.
According to the MCE, trees influenced everything “from our environment to our physical health.”
“Without trees to regulate and maintain the environment, there will be no life,” he observed.
He called on Ghanaians to plant more trees to restore the country’s lost forests, repair the damaged ecosystems and mitigate climate change.
Mr Bannor Duodu, Urban Forestry Coordinator for Greater Kumasi, said the time for tackling the issue of climate change was now.
According to the Forestry Coordinator, the “Green Ghana Project” ought to be embraced by all stakeholders given the importance of trees in combating environmental challenges.
GNA