The Forestry Commission has urged Ghanaians to embrace the Green Ghana Initiative and participate in the tree planting process to restore degraded forest reserves and mitigate the reality of climate change impacts because climate change has no boundary.
Mr. Atintan Azumah, Bolgatanga Assistant District Manager, Forestry Commission, noted that climate change is real and affect agriculture production and food security and there is a need to support re-greening strategies to reverse the trend.
“Climate change has no boundary, even if you are here in Ghana and somebody is in America, because the trees that can mitigate it is for everybody. For instance, we used to have rains and start cropping by April, but we are in June and some places have not still had rains, and all these are due to climate change.”
Mr. Atintan Azumah
Trees survival rate high last year, still more to be done
Last year, the Bolgatanga District Forestry Commission, which comprised Bolgatanga Municipal, Bolgatanga East, Nabdam, Bongo, and Talensi Districts, distributed and planted 100,000 tree seedlings.
Mr. Azumah noted that the survival rate was high and called for collective efforts to consolidate the gains.
He said the forest reserves at Nangodi, Bongo, Kalbeo, and Anateem were fast depleting due to human illegal human activities, including the felling of trees for fuel firewood and farming activities and there was a need to replace the lost vegetation cover.
He revealed that about 140,000 seedlings out of the 200,000 seedlings to be planted this year would be planted at the forest reserves to help restore the degraded landscapes and forest reserves.
“This year, we want to target the majority of the seedlings to go to the forest reserves because people who collected the seedlings last year complained that they died, so we want to plant the majority there and observe ourselves. So, we have demarcated 128 compartments in the Nangodi forest reserves, and it will take about 140,000 seedlings, while the rest will be given to individuals or corporate bodies who want them.”
Mr. Azumah
Mr. Azumah mentioned Cassia siamea, Terminala montalis, Neem, Cashew, Mahogany, Eucalyptus, Abezia labbeck, Teak, Ceiba pentandra (kapok), and Bauhinia refescens as some of the tree species in stock.
He appealed to individuals and groups to visit the office to collect the seedlings free of charge.
Agencies flood offices of FSD for tree seedlings
In an interview with Mr. Michael Pentsil, the Regional Director of the Division, he revealed that many agencies and institutions in the Central Region inundated offices of the Forest Division Service (FSD) Central Region to pick up the free seedlings to plant ahead of the Green Ghana Day.
“The institutions and agencies demanding the seedlings include Religious and Traditional organizations, the Judicial Service, schools, both public and private institutions, individuals, health institutions, and others. The trees picked up include mahogany, timber, emery, fruit trees, coconut, avocado, apple, Ornament tree seedlings, militia, acacia, royal palm, and cedrella, among other trees.”
Mr. Michael Pentsil
Rain disturb Green Ghana Day
Speaking to the Vaultz News on progress on the tree planting exercise, Madam Grace Eyram, a National Service Personnel at the Kwahu South District Forestry Division Office said, the exercise started on a good note but the rain came as a disruption. She expressed hopes that the exercise will continue tomorrow and more trees will be planted.
“In all we planted 500 trees today, we would have done more if not for the rain. We hope to do more in the coming days.”
Grace Eyram- NSS personnel
The tree planting exercise, according to the Forestry Commission, will be a weeklong exercise.
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