The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has set up collection points for individuals to pick up seedlings to plant on Green Ghana Day, which is coming up on Friday.
The centres are in Accra, at the Ministry of Finance, the Forestry Commission (FC) Head Office at Achimota, across from GIMPA’s main gate, the National Theatre, and the Trade Fair Centre at La.
All 50 Forestry Services Division (FSD) offices across the country, as well as the 200 FSD ranges, regional coordinating councils (RCCs), metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs), Parks and Gardens offices, community centres, and designated chiefs’ palaces, will receive seedlings.
The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Forestry, Benito Owusu-Bio, revealed this to the Daily Graphic ahead of the Green Ghana Day on Friday, when 20 million tree seedlings are due to be planted across the country.
Some commercial malls, schools, and church sites will also act as seedling collection points, according to the deputy minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Atwima Nwabiagya North.
Over 20 million seedlings have already been nursed and prepared for planting, according to Mr Owusu-Bio, who chairs the Green Ghana Day National Planning Committee.
He explained, “We have fruit trees like mango, coconut, orange, and avocado; ornamental trees like flamboyant; fuel wood-like cassia, acacia, and militia; and timber trees like mahogany, Wawa, teak, and Cinderella.”
He encouraged people to go to any of the authorized collection places and select the seedlings they wanted to sow.
“It is a summons to national duty,” he continued, “and we must display patriotism by fully participating in this vital national activity.”
To help mobilize the people for the exercise, the planning committee, which includes officials from the ministry and the FC, has met with important stakeholders, particularly traditional rulers and members of the Diplomatic Corps.
On June 11, last year, over five million trees were planted around the country as part of the effort to help repair the country’s deteriorated landscape and minimize the effects of climate change.
Although the survival rate of the trees was good, inadequate care was harming their development, according to checks by the Daily Graphic in several regions of the country and talks with officials of the FC a fortnight ago.
Many of the trees planted in forest regions had survived and were growing well, according to the inspections.
Trees were planted by celebrities such as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at Jubilee House, Speaker of Parliament Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin within Parliament’s gates, and Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu at the Royal Golf Club in Kumasi are all blooming.
Trees planted by Diplomatic Corps members at the Seismological Centre, near the FC’s Head Office in Greenhill, GIMPA, have also survived.
While some trees planted in non-forest reserves, such as school grounds and road medians, have survived, others are fighting weeds for survival.