By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi, GNA
Accra, June 8, GNA – The World Vision Ghana together with European Union, Forestry Commission, local authorities, chiefs, people and school children from the Shai-Osudoku District Assembly, planted 1, 100 trees in the Chipa Forest Reserve.
Led by officials of the Tema-Ada Forest District Forest Services Division, they planted species of bamboo, mahogany, cacia and acacia with distance of 3 metres by 3 metres on a hectare of the Reserve on the Green Ghana Day 2024.
The exercise which was financially supported by the Landscapes and Environmental Agility across the Nation (LEAN) Project was to promote the Green Ghana Day 2024 initiative by individuals, organizations, and government agencies in protecting Ghana’s rich natural forest cover.
The Day aligns with World Vision Ghana’s national goal of promoting environmental sustainability and European Union’s (EU) Regreening Africa project, which aims at restoring degraded landscapes, enhancing biodiversity, and improving livelihoods across Africa.
Mr Edward Anaba Akunyagra, Project Manager, World Vision Ghana, during the planting exercise called on Ghanaians to protect forests, promote sustainable land use, support eco-friendly practices and inspire others to join the Re-greening movement.
“It’s about creating a greener and more resilient Ghana, where our youth and children can thrive. Together, we can make a difference, create a greater and better Ghana for tomorrow,” he said.
Mr Akunyagra said through the Re-greening Africa project, the World Vision Ghana implemented programmes together with the Catholic Relief Services and with technical support from the World Agroforestry Centre, that saw over 200,000 seedlings planted cumulatively over the last 5 years in Bawku West, Mion and Garu-Tempane.
He said 11, 920 lead farmers and fire stewards had been trained in Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) and bushfire management in the same districts, 44, 542 households took up promoted Regreening (tree planting, FMNR, Nursery management, tree care practices) and 50, 656 hectares of land had been restored.
Mr Jonas Claes, Deputy Ambassador of the European Union to Ghana, in his remarks said, forests are essential to mitigate climate change and environmental degradation where they restore essential biodiversity, provide clean air and protect essential resources for local communities.
He said EU’s action on reforestation in Ghana had been comprehensive in nature, adding that under the EU-funded Re-greening Africa and Landscapes and Environmental Agility across the Nation (LEAN) projects alone, more than 1.1 million tree seedlings had been planted across Ghana.
The project seeks to translate the sustainability commitments into workable solutions on the ground with the overall objective of conserving biodiversity, improving livelihoods, increasing climate change resilience and reducing emissions from land use changes in selected landscapes across the savannah, high forest and transitional ecological zones of Ghana.
Madam Winnifred Ohene-Wiafe, District Manager, Tema-Ada Forest District of the Forest Services Division, Forestry Commission, said this year’s target was to plant 340, 000 trees in the district meanwhile they would plant 12 hectares in the Reserve amounting to 13, 200 trees.
“The rest of the seedlings will go out to schools, churches, mosque, NGOs, agencies and private organizations. We have species that give shades and others are ornamental trees like the flamboyance and visual palm. In 2023, we did a total of 22 hectares with about 23, 000 seedlings in the Reserve though our target was 240, 000,” she said.
Mr Fred Offei, DCE for Shai-Osudoku Assembly, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said communities and institutions in the district had been committed by planting trees in their homes and environment, adding in 2021, they recorded about 75 per cent survival rate after planting 100, 000, but little drought disrupted those planted in 2022.
GNA