Alex Ofori Agyekum
Nsawam (E/R), May 3, GNA – The Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly has launched a two-year afforestation education programme to sensitise residents to plant trees in the municipality, especially around the beds of the Densu River, to protect the environment.
The launch was in collaboration with Nycob Enterprise Consortium, a non-governmental organisation, on the theme: “Building Resilience of our Communities Against Climate Change Effects.”
Mr Isaac Kwadwo Buabeng, the Nsawam-Adoagyiri Municipal Chief Executive, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the project was the first phase of the afforestation programme in the area.
He called on the Assembly members to educate the people to actively participate in the tree planting exercise to reduce the impact of climate change in the communities.
Mr Buabeng advised the public to desist from putting up buildings on waterways and dumping refuse into the Densu River, the main source of water that serves those areas through to Accra.
This would help prevent flooding and the havoc it could cause to human lives and property, he said.
Mr Felix Addo-Okyireh, the Eastern Region Director, Environmental Protection Agency, urged the people to stop felling trees along rivers, streams and even on their farms to allow for the absorption of carbon dioxide in the environment.
He called on farmers to avoid farming around rivers and the use of chemicals for fishing to protect the rivers from pollution.
Mr Paul Peter Hammond, the President of Nycob Enterprise Consortium, said the tree planting exercise would be replicated in other districts and municipalities in the Eastern Region, especially in the schools.
GNA