SNV Ghana Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities (GrEEn) Project, in collaboration with the Nzema East Municipal Assembly and the Forestry Commission, has planted trees along the streets of Axim in the Western Region.
The areas that benefitted include the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authourity (DVLA) office, Roman Catholic Junior High School (JHS) and its environs to commemorate the Green Ghana Initiative.
“We believe that tree-planting is the most effective climate change solution to date. It has a great potential to create green jobs, direct and indirect induced forest-related jobs through the sustainable forest industry value chain,” Dorcas Hammond, Skills Development Advisor of SNV Ghana has said.
According to Ms. Hammond, it is crucial that planting new trees is combined with managing the trees sustainably, restoring existing forests, reducing emissions from man-made activities, swapping fossil fuels with renewable energy as well as adopting greener behaviour and a circular economy.
Vincent Appiah, District Manager-Forestry Commission, Tarkwa, explained that trees help to clean the air individuals breathe. “Through their leaves and bark, they absorb harmful pollutants and release clean oxygen for us to breathe. In urban environments, trees absorb pollutant gases such as nitrous oxides, ozone and carbon monoxide, and sweep up particles like dust and smoke,” he said
Frank Okpenyen, Municipal Chief Executive of Nzema East, entreated all to take the project seriously and plant trees in their area. “Trees give us shade and beautify the environment, therefore those who are involved in cutting down trees should put a stop to it and rather plant more,” he said.
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) are implementing the GrEEn project in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. It is a four-year project with funding from the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa, and co-funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, SNV and UNCDF.
