Green Ghana Day marked in Tamale, Sunyani, Hohoe

It was tree planting galore last Friday, as the country commemorated Green Ghana Day, an initiative of the government, which was started in 2021 to restore the country's degraded forest cover.

The target for this year’s planting exercise spearheaded by the Forestry Commission (FC) is 10 million trees. In Tamale, Mohammed Fugu reports that over 500,000 tree seedlings, including mango, cashew, Mahogany, lemon, guava, teak, acacia and Bahama grass, were planted across the Northern Region.

The exercise was carried out in schools, communities, degraded forests and off-forest reserves. The Northern Regional Minister, Shani Alhassan Shaibu, joined some chiefs and key stakeholders to plant trees at the Tamale Technical University (TaTU) to commemorate the day.

Alhaji Shaibu bemoaned the indiscriminate felling of trees, particularly shea, which had impacted negatively on the vegetation cover in the area.

Crucial

He said the national tree planting initiative was very crucial in restoring the lost vegetation and mitigating the impact of climate change. He indicated that 80 per cent of the trees that were planted last year in the region had survived and that more needed to be done to sustain and preserve the ecosystem.

The Northern Regional Manager of the FC, Kwasi Frimpong, said the commission had two forest districts, which are Yendi and Tamale, and that each district was expected to plant 250,000 trees to meet the target.

"The Green Ghana initiative has come to augment our job and we will do everything possible to ensure the survival and growth of the trees. "We have educated the public about the benefits of tree planting and they have been very supportive since the commencement of the exercise," he said.

He, however, appealed to the general public to plant and nurture the trees to maturity to help green the environment. The Vice-Chancellor of the Tamale Technical University, Prof. Abass Braimah, lauded the regional minister and FC for selecting the university to mark this year's Green Ghana Day.

Sunyani

Biiya Mukusah Ali reports from Sunyani that the Bono Region exceeded its target of planting 750,000 different species of trees during the exercise. The Regional FC said it distributed 888,000 seedlings, which was more than the target of 750,000 seedlings.

A short ceremony held at the Sunyani Liberation Barracks to commence the fourth edition of the Green Ghana Day was highly patronised by the staff of the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), FC, personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces and students from the various educational institutions in the Sunyani Municipality.

At the event, the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene, charged residents of the region to endeavour to promote good eco-friendly practices to ensure a sustainable environment in the future.

She explained that she was collaborating with the appropriate authorities to determine how they would enforce the management of vegetation during land development. Ms Owusu-Banahene charged the public, especially the youth, to actively participate in the promotion of good eco-friendly practices such as afforestation to preserve the environment for future generations.

The Regional Director of the FC, Augustine Gyedu, said the commission was committed to the Green Ghana initiative.

Hohoe

From the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta Region, Emmanuel Modey reports that 30,000 seedlings made up of cashew, mahogany, teak and affram, were planted as part of the Green Ghana Day celebration.

The Paramount Chief of the Gbi Traditional Area, Togbega Gabusu VII, planted the first seedling at the St Theresa College of Education at Hohoe last Friday to start the programme.

At the ceremony, Togbega Gabusu VII said the initiative was a demonstration of the government’s determination to protect the environment as a legacy for those not yet born. He called on all to cultivate the habit of planting and nurturing the trees to generate a beautiful forest cover.

The Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive, Francis Fiakpui, said the seedlings were available and called on the people to approach the Assembly for any quantity they wanted in fulfilment of their goals.  

Mr Fiakpui emphasised that any seedlings planted must be nurtured to grow, otherwise their efforts would be defeated. 

ECG Ashanti West

In a related development, Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor reports from Offinso that the Ashanti West Region of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) planted a total of 600 trees as part of the Green Ghana Day commemoration.

The trees were planted around their district offices, primary substations bulk supply points, warehouses, workshops and other facilities within the region. Launching the tree planting exercise at the Offinso District Office of ECG, the Ashanti West Regional Manager of ECG, Maxwell Dapaah, said:

 “Trees are very important to the livelihoods of human beings, as they help to produce oxygen for human respiration, reduce the impact of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, provide shade, beautify our surroundings and provide medicinal remedies for ailments.”

Caution

He cautioned the customers of ECG and the general public that “Seeking shelter under trees closer to our network during heavy rainfall can lead to the loss of lives in the event of the tree falling on the cable or causing the cable to fall on the ground.

This can lead to electrocution since the cable will be closer to the person seeking shelter under the tree.” He also advised the public to desist from planting trees directly under the overhead cables of the distribution company, since “the tree is a conductor of electricity so in the event of lightning, it could endanger lives and also cause outages since the protection on the ECG network will go off once the tree touches the network, to save lives.”