Accra, March 23, GNA – As part of measures to restore the country’s degraded landscapes, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Ghana (GIZ Ghana) has set out to plant trees in selected schools in the country in commemoration of the 2022 International Day of Forests.
The GIZ, through its Forest Landscape Restoration for Sustainable Wood Energy Value Chain (FLR) and the European Union Resilience Against Climate Change (EU-REACH) projects, started the tree planting campaign in selected schools, including the Accra Girls Senior High School, and the Doodiyiri Basic Scool in Wa in the Upper West Region.
The FLR project in Collaboration with Accra Girls Senior High School is planting 30 seedlings on the school’s campus, a statement issued by GIZ-Ghana and shared with the Ghana News Agency, said.
It said the move would encourage the students, teachers, and the public to promote tree planting in their communities.
It said the EU-REACH project on the other hand was planting 50 seedlings in one of its Nature Club Schools, Doodiyiri Basic School.
The Nature Club programme, the GIZ said, was a tool for empowering pupils to play active roles in deciding and implementing issues related to the environment and make them “behaviour change agents” in their immediate surroundings.
“GIZ Ghana recognises the critical role that trees and forests play – from cleaning the air we breathe to filtering the water we drink, shading and sheltering us from the sun, providing food and other benefits – and implements actions to protect them,” it said.
The GIZ further explained that the FLR project aimed at a more sustainable production and efficient use of energy wood for better climate protection and energy supply.
It said over the last two years, the project engaged over 2600 members of rural communities in Northern Ghana and prepared them for the transition to more energy-efficient production and consumption of charcoal and firewood.
“This helps them adapt to a changing climate as well as reduce their own emissions,” it said, adding that: “The project also supported the planting of over half a million fast-growing tree seedlings for energy woodlots in communities in Bonno East and Savanah regions of Ghana.”
It said through the project, the illegal logging of rare tree species for charcoal production and forest degradation in general could be prevented.
The GIZ said the EU-REACH project also sought to improve the climate resilience of rural livelihoods in North West Ghana through the promotion of conservation agriculture and agroforestry practices.
“Since its inception in 2019, the project has successfully planted about 50,000 trees in schools and communities with the aim of increasing their climate awareness, cultivating the habit of planting trees and see the need for a collective action to restore degraded landscapes,” it said.
The International Day of Forests was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests.
On March 21 each year, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organise activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.
This year’s commemoration is on the theme: “Forests and sustainable production and consumption”, and focuses on how restoration and sustainable management of forests can help address climate change and biodiversity crisis.
GNA