The Forestry Commission, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, on Tuesday, unveiled the Green Ghana Project to plant five million trees across the country.
Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Sector Minister, who launched the project, said it formed part of activities to mark this year’s International Day of Forest.
The Green Ghana initiative will officially commence on June 11, 2021, to encourage Ghanaians to plant more trees to preserve and protect the country’s forest cover and the environment.
Mr. Jinapor stated that the tree planting exercise would see President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia; the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin and the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, planting a tree each on June 11.
He also mentioned other prominent personalities including, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Naa Abukari II, as well as other Ghanaians planting trees.
The Minister said the project formed part of a strategy and a programme to ensure an aggressive afforestation to protect the environment.
He said the initiative was a joint responsibility for which more broad-based support was needed to address the adverse degradation of the country’s forests and ecosystem.
“To achieve our goal of protecting our forests and ecosystem, we will see to the planting of five million trees, which is significant by all standard, to help raise national consciousness of the need to protect the environment and the forests,” Mr Jinapor said.
The Minister noted that the President had a vision for the Forestry Commission and the forestry sector, which required the Commission working with all stakeholders to increase the country’s forest cover.
Mr John Allotey, the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, lauded the Green Ghana programme and expressed the hope that the initiative would make the country green again, following the activities of illegal small-scale mining that depleted the forest cover.
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