Fatima Anafu-Astanga
Bawku (UE/R), June 21, GNA – With the onset of rains in the Upper East Region, the Bawku Forestry Division of the Forestry Commission (FC) is distributing tree seedlings to institutions and individuals in the Bawku Enclave as part of the Green Ghana activities.
This year, the Bawku Forestry Division targeted to plant over 80,000 site matching trees but for lack of moisture and delay in the coming of rains, only a ceremonial tree planting exercise was carried out in Zebilla in the Bawku West District as part of the launch of the event.
The Presbyterian Development Service, the Ghana Education Service (GES), The Ghana Fire Service, Ghana immigration Service, Ghana Police Service and the District Assemblies are some of the institutions who have received tree seedlings.
Mr Emmanuel Omane , reflecting on this year’s theme, “Our Forest our Health” at the launch in Zebilla earlier, reiterated the importance of trees, “forests produce oxygen and absorb Carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas that gets trapped in the atmosphere and compounds the warming of our planet, and forest can help combat that process.
“By absorbing the gas during photosynthesis, and storing it in their wood, leaves and the soil, trees keep more carbon dioxide from ending up in the atmosphere where it traps heat, trees also absorb other airborne pollutants like sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide,” he said.
He noted that nature and forests did much more for human health and spending time outside in a green environment helped to improve mental health, “exposure to forests can reduce human stress levels, recover from fatigue, and improve general wellbeing.
Mr Omane said with the involvement of all key stakeholders in the area, the FC was committed to equipping local communities especially the youth and rural communities with more knowledge and hands on skill on how to combat climate change and restore the dwindling degraded landscape.
He acknowledged the World Vision Organization as one important partner in combating landscape degradation, through the Re-greening Africa programme and promoting community mobilization and technical capacity building in providing tree seedlings of high economic value to support household and community incomes.
GNA