By Philip Tengzu
Wa, Aug. 9, GNA – Eighteen schools, in six municipalities and districts in the Upper West Region, have been earmarked to benefit from tree planting exercise under the European Union-Resilience Against Climate Change (EU-REACH) project.
The schools include the Lassia Tuolu Senior High School (SHS) in the Wa West District, Gbierung M/A Primary School in the Nadowli-Kaleo District, and Jirapa Girls model in the Jirapa Municipality.
Others were Mettoh Baptist Junior High School (JHS) in the Lawra Municipality, Zingu M/A JHS in the Wa Municipality, and Loggu Community SHS in the Wa East District among others.
Madam Adiza N. Saing-oh Yesseh, the Communication Officer of the EU-REACH project at the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), announced this during a tree planting exercise at the Northern Star SHS in the Wa Municipality.
The trees were also planted at the Zingu M/A and Yibile JHS in the Wa Municipality and the Loggu Community SHS, Kpanamuna, and Kulkpong Primary Schools in the Wa East District.
Madam Adiza said a total of 9,000 mangoes, acacia, citrus, cashew, and militia tree species had been targeted to be planted in the 18 schools.
The GIZ is implementing the REACH project in the Upper West Region to, among other things, promote climate resilient and sustainable agriculture among the people through conservation agriculture and tree planting.
Madam Yesseh entreated the beneficiary schools to take proper care of the trees and that the GIZ would do regular monitoring of the trees planted to ensure they survived.
“One key area is after-care, everybody can plant a tree every day, but the most important thing is taking care of it to survive,” she said.
The Communication Officer said the factors influencing climate change were largely based on human behaviour and that could be reversed through attitudinal change.
She also urged the younger generation to be ambassadors and advocates for climate change mitigation through the promotion and practice of conscious tree planting wherever they find themselves.
“We include these young ones in the tree planting because they are equally affected by climate change, and you know largely the issues surrounding climate change are behavioural”, she explained.
The beneficiary schools expressed gratitude to the GIZ for the support offered the schools to plant trees and gave the assurance that they would take care of the trees to ensure they survived to serve the intended purposes.
Mr Derick Bonubu Ba-iibu, the Headmaster of the Zingu JHS, said the trees planted would not only beautify the environment but will also serve as windbreaks for the school structures.
“I will suggest that there should be regulations against felling of trees. Even when the trees are cut, they should be replaced.
“That is why what GIZ is doing (planting of trees) is very important and it will help protect the environment from desertification,” Mr Mohammed Issah, the Senior Housemaster of the Northern Star SHS, said.
GNA