By Yussif Ibrahim
Kumasi, March 29, GNA – Poor implementation of tree planting and forest conservation programmes has been the bane of efforts to keep a green environment over the years.
This was revealed by Dr Prosper Mensah, an Engineer and Research Scientist at the Forestry Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-FORIG).
He said the country had over the years introduced good programmes aimed at restoring the depleted forest cover and to promote a green environment, but the implementation of such initiatives had always been a challenge.
“We have had good programmes which are supposed to yield results, but my concern is, what has been the output? Can we count and quantify the trees planted per the amount of money invested,” he asked in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.
He said it was not enough to plant trees without proper supervision and ownership which were critical for their nurturing and survival.
Citing the meridian of the Ejisu – Tech Junction stretch to buttress his point, he said trees had been planted each year for the past five to eight years, but only a few survived due to lack of supervision.
Dr Mensah also bemoaned the exclusion of the right technical people in the implementation of such programmes even when they are abundant in various state institutions.
“It is unfortunate that wrong trees are often planted and there is nothing science and engineering incorporated into these programmes,” he complained.
He further stated that, “We just want to satisfy the theme tree planting, but we don’t want to realise the results of tree planting.”
He said until the right people were consulted, appropriate trees planted, and attention paid to engineering, such initiatives would only be a mirage and waste of resources.
He spoke about instances where trees are sometimes planted just a foot from electric poles in the city, underscoring the lack of technical and engineering expertise in the exercise.
Dr Mensah, who also works with the Wood Industry and Utilisation Division of CSIR-FORIG, emphasised the need for a deliberate programme involving the right people with adequate resources to achieve the desired results.
“This should not be politics because we need results. If you look at other countries, trees are something they worship because if the last tree dies, the last man dies but here we take it for granted,” he noted.
He said it was disheartening that after years of continuous planting of trees, we cannot account for one tenth of the cost of money spent in tree realisation.
Dr Mensah proposed the incorporation of tree planting in the academic calendar from basic to tertiary level where students are empowered to plant and nurture trees as part of their academic work.
In other jurisdictions, trees including bamboo and rattan were being planted without felling them, but the opposite is the situation in Ghana which called for deliberate policy intervention backed by science and engineering, he suggested.
He said these countries have involved schools, students and rising generations by awarding academic marks as long-term plans to sustain tree planting.
GNA
YI/CAA