Forestry Commission, UNV, UNDP, Church of Pentecost jointly plant 1,000 trees

The Forestry Commission of Ghana, the United Nations Development Programme Ghana (UNDP), the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the Church of Pentecost Ghana joined forces to plant over 1,000 different tree seedlings at the Chipa Forest Reserve in Agomeda, Eastern Region. 

Last Friday’s exercise, held to mark World Environment Day, was on the theme: “Growing for a Greener Tomorrow”. The exercise also brought out the importance of reforestation and environmental sustainability.

The tree planting exercise was funded by the UNDP and the UNV. 

Addressing participants in the forest reserve last Friday, the Country Officer and Project Manager of the UNDP, Samuel Appiagyei Danquah, said this initiative was to help restore 50 hectares out of the 2,410 hectares of the Chipa Forest, which had been degraded due to bush fires.

That initiative was in line with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo’s goal for the afforestation/reforestation of forest reserves as a way to restore the lost forest covers of Ghana, launched under the planting of 10 million trees as part of the ‘Green Ghana Project’, which started in 2021.

Mr Appiagyei-Danquah also added that the UNDP and its partners would ensure the periodic maintenance of these newly planted trees and also advance its projects within the Northern and other regions.

Significance of tree planting

Tree planting and afforestation, according to a Forest Range Manager of the Forestry Commission, Kwabena Bajaben Genfi, would go a long way to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.

“In the long run, these trees will help sink our carbon emitted into the environment while cleansing the air we breathe,” he noted. That, he told the Daily Graphic would aid in the advancement of our health, fight climate change and better prepare the country against drought. 

Measures to curb deforestation and bushfires in Chipa forest reserves. Addressing this, Mr Genfi noted that the Forestry Commission would continue to sensitise the public to the dangers of bushfires, better farming practices and the importance of environmental sustainability.

He, however, highlighted the need for stricter regulations and security as some persons still found ways to evade the reserve. “We have forest guards who patrol its entire parameters and we also ensure periodic maintenance of the trees, especially the newly planted,” he noted.

Many volunteers, including local residents, businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and partner groups, who participated in the exercise expressed a sense of responsibility in contributing to the preservation of the environment.

According to a community farmer, Seth Tettey, the initiative was good but noted his worry of bush fires during the dry seasons, which, he said, sometimes affected his crops.