Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Forestry Commission, Mr. Nyadia Sulemana Nelson, has admonished Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of tree planting to re-green the degraded landscapes and forest cover to mitigate challenges of climate change and improve agriculture productivity.
He observed that the country’s forest and vegetation cover was fast depleting through human activities and other related events and the phenomenon was having a bearing on the environment and directly affecting food production.
“We are basically an agrarian economy particularly so in Northern Ghana, agriculture thrives on the viability of forest cover, so if there is no forest cover, there is no food, that is why the Green Ghana initiative is very important,” he said.
Speaking at Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, as part of activities marking the Green Ghana Day, Mr. Nelson observed that Ghana had over the last 30 years lost huge vegetation cover to urbanization, construction activities, fuel wood, and illegal mining among others.
“It is people who are faithful who believe in the Lord that plant trees because if you plant a mango tree, you cannot tell whether you will live to eat from that mango tree, if you plant a mahogany tree, you cannot tell whether you will sit under the shade of that tree, so those who plant a tree are most faithful of people”, he added.
Mr Stephen Yakubu, Upper East Regional Minister, stated that fast approaching desertification from the Sahel region was a cause for worry and noted that the Green Ghana initiative was a viable strategy to fighting the phenomenon.
“The significance of rejuvenating the forest cover is wide and varied, ranging from economic, social, health, and cultural considerations. In the era of the high cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, the need to plant woodlots to serve as an alternative fuel cannot be underestimated,” he said.
Pe Ditundini Adiali Ayagitam III, President, Upper East RegionHouse of Chiefs, appealed to the government to empower the Traditional leaders to punish perpetrators of environmental destruction and added that the move would deter others from felling trees.
Pe Ayagitam who is also the Paramount Chief of the Chiana Traditional Area noted that all Traditional Councils in the region had been directed to make land available for the project and collect 5,000 seedlings each to encourage their subjects to plant the trees.
This year’s commemoration on the theme, “mobilizing for a greener future” has set a target of rallying Ghanaians to plant 20 million trees nationwide. Out of this, the Upper East Region had been given a target of 650,000 trees to be planted.