By Emelia B. Addae
Koforidua, June 13, GNA – Forest Okyeman project, in partnership with some organisations, has marked 2023 World Environment Day with a commemorative tree planting exercise to launch this year’s reforestation activities.
The launch, which was under the FOREST Okyeman project centred around the theme “Solutions to Plastic Pollution” and was part of the global campaign, “Beat Plastic Pollution.”
The University College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies (UCAES) at Bunso was the centre chosen for this year’s World Environment Day celebration on June 5, which drew several collaborating partners.
These partners were the Okyeman Environment Foundation (OEF), United Nations Volunteers, World Health Organisation, United Nations Development Programme, Ecoland Organic Ghana, and Projects Abroad.
Mr Daniel Osei Frempong, who is the Project Coordinator for the Fostering Reforestation, Environmental Sustainability, and Tourism (FOREST) Okyeman Project, said the project aims to promote positive attitudes towards the environment, specifically reforestation.
To achieve this goal, the project will undertake reforestation activities on degraded lands, and implement a community nursery enterprise intervention to revive the local ecosystem.
He said the initiative would require every community in Okyeman to volunteer and participate in the cultivation of tree seedlings in nurseries, with the aim of making them readily available to the public.
The FOREST Okyeman project is aimed at encouraging significant investments in a reforestation initiative that is based on sustainable environmental governance and management.
It also focuses on promoting ecotourism, empowering livelihoods, and improving health and education outcomes in the Abuakwa Traditional Area known for its dense forest cover and is considered one of the high forest areas in Ghana.
Mr Reuben Kennedy Atepre, the Abuakwa South Municipal Environmental Health Officer, said that, in terms of trash composition, plastic garbage was second to organic waste, and its management had become difficult.
To overcome the situation, he said: “The Municipal assembly is engaged in several negotiations with private organizations about assisting them with garbage management.”
He also said as much as government was expected to establish rules that would help manage solid or plastic trash, individuals must also be ecologically conscious and accept that waste management starts at home.
He noted, “Management of plastics involves separating plastic garbage from other solid waste and decreasing the usage of plastics such as plastic plates, plastic bags, and plastic straws.”
Professor Patrick K. Ofori-Danson, the newly appointed Rector of UCAES, warned that the ecology and biodiversity of the entire planet were in grave danger, and so did Okyeman.
He said this was because of ongoing illegal mining activities, river pollution, deforestation, and other factors that had made it difficult for the people to have sustainable lives.
He Said the School was equipped to instruct students in the fields of environment and agriculture, with emphasis on the effects and management of environmental challenges.
Mr Eric Ekow Ewusie, Eastern Regional Manager of Projects Abroad, emphasised the dangers of pollution by stating, “Every time it rains, every piece of plastic we leave behind is washed into the rivers and ocean, and when they get there, the sea vomits them out…and it destroys aquatic life.”
On the university grounds, Cedrela, Ofram, Emire, and Mahogany saplings were planted to commemorate this year’s reforestation efforts under the FOREST Okyeman initiative. GNA