Member of Parliament for Anyaa Sowutuom, Dr Dickson Adomako-Kissi, has commended the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, on continuing with the Green Ghana Project aimed at planting trees to reduce deforestation in the country.
Dr Adomako-Kissi revealed that the target by government and the Lands Ministry to plant some 20 million trees this year, although ambitious, is a step in the right direction. He explained that it will also bode well for the country if homes are taken into consideration as well since they are more likely to nurture these seedlings.
“I want to talk to the average person in Ghana to do their very best to at least plant one [tree] and nurture one… In as much as government is pushing corporate agencies, I think that if it’s by your house, you are more likely to nurture and that completes the cycle for us. The minister is doing a marvellous job, I think that it is commendable in the sense that he’s sustained the movement for planting trees and I must also commend him on that regard.”
Dr Dickson Adomako-Kissi
Commenting on the state of the Achimota forest, Dr Adomako-Kissi noted that, as it stands, he finds it very difficult to go through the Achimota forest “because there’s litter, people defecate there [and] because of safety”. He highlighted that if government wants to expose the forest to a lot more people in the country and for that matter the outside world, then, “an approach of remodelling the place, keeping the integrity of the environment” and making it more safe and secure for students to go through and see the natural beauty should be considered.
“… Mind you, it’s going to be done with one key thing in mind; preserving nature and we can’t go wrong doing it in a fashion that all of us at a any point in time can go through the park [and] see the beauty of Achimota forest. What good is it to hide it [and] we cannot have a tour of the forest which is structured, well organised [and] well-funded for a lot of university students and students in primary to come and see?”
Dr Dickson Adomako-Kissi
Planting of 20 million trees is feasible
Meanwhile, the Forestry Commission is set to roll out the Green Ghana project later today, June 10, 2022, and it seeks to plant about 20 million trees across the country.
Prior to this, the Lands and Natural Resource Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor revealed that the seedlings will be made up of both economic and commercial trees. He noted that for this year, the ministry will be focused on planting mahogany, wawa, rosewood, coconut, palm, mango and orange trees.
Mr Jinapor stated that the ministry will also be collaborating with the parks and gardens department of the Ministry of Local Government to plant ornamental trees on the avenues of “our capital cities so that we can beautify the capital cities of the regions of our country”.
According to the Lands Minister, the seedlings will be free and available at all Forestry Commission offices, District Assemblies and various malls across the country.
In the interim, the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey, has indicated that the 20 million target is achievable, despite sentiments of doubt among some activists. He emphasized that this year, the 20 million tree planting project has been spilt into two phases.
“10 million is going into forest reserves that will add to the forest stock. Then the other 10 million will go to improve our landscape. The places have been prepared in the forest reserves. We have the seedlings ready and we are going to plant more of the indigenous timber species in the forest reserves.”
John Allotey
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