The Upper East Region has joined the rest of the country to mark this year’s Green Ghana project to build the Region’s capability to withstand the devastating effects of climate change.
A total of 650,000 tree seedlings are expected to be planted across the Region by the end of 2024.
The Regional Minister, Hon. Stephen Yakubu at a tree-planting ceremony, said this year’s exercise was an improvement on last year, where 170,000 tree seedlings were planted.
He said there were sufficient quantity of seedlings to be planted, and called on individuals, groups and institutions to visit the various District Assemblies for seedlings to plant.
“Let me use this opportunity to entreat all stakeholders to support this laudable programme of the government to succeed by way of education and information dissemination on the importance of planting trees,” he said.
According to him, results of last year’s exercise showed very good success rate and further encouraged residents not to just plant trees, but endeavour to nurture them to blossom.
Hon. Yakubu stressed on the need for residents to own the initiative as it was a matter of human survival, saying “When the last tree dies, the last man dies.”
The Deputy Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission (FC), Hon. Nelson Nyadia Suleman, said the importance of trees could not be over emphasized and indicated that Ghana was generally an agrarian country as agriculture thrived on the availability of the forest cover.
“If there is no forest there is no food,” he noted.
He said the Green Ghana Day was worthy of celebration annually, and disclosed that the country had lost huge forest cover through human activities such as felling of trees over the last 30years.
Hon. Suleman expressed concern that there had not been any pragmatic approach to replace the lost portions of the forest and the consequences were obvious.
He said Ghana was now a shining example to many African countries through the laudable initiative to sustain the forest cover as Ghana was signatory to a lot of conventions against climate change.
The President of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs, Pe Ditundini Adiali Ayagitam lll said the House was against the indiscriminate felling of trees, and urged government to initiate measures to deter persons who indulged in the act.
He charged the FC to supply edible tree seedlings such as shea-nuts, dawadawa among others next year to whip up interest of residents to get more involved in the project.
Pe Ayagitam III, who is also the Paramount Chief of the Chiana Traditional Area, assured the FC that lands would be made available to grow more trees to ensure the success of the Green Ghana Project.