The ‘Green Ghana Day’ project, the government’s tree planting initiative, has so far led to the planting of some 31 million trees in two years, out of which 23 million have survived and are being nurtured, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources (MNLR), Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said.
The initiative, an aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme to restore degraded landscapes, was launched in 2021 and continues to make progress as more trees are being planted than initially targeted, he said.
For instance, at its inception, five million trees were targeted to be planted. But at the end of the year, an excess of two million were planted. Similarly, in the 2022 programme year, a total of 24 million trees were also planted from an initial target of 20 million trees. These developments demonstrate the acceptance of the public of the initiative to green the country.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, the minister said a field assessment conducted shows that on average “we had 72 percent survival rate last year as compared to 81 percent in 2021”.
He added that: “While adequate measures were put in place to ensure the survival of all trees planted, several external factors account for the survival rate, including rainfall patterns, wildfires and soil fertility. Nonetheless, the survival rate shows that we still have some 23 million trees to nurture”.
It is against this background that he announced that the target for 2023 has been revised downwards to 10 million trees. “This will give us space to devote some resources and attention to the trees planted over the last two years, while not losing momentum on our quest to restore our degraded landscape”.
Furthermore, he said it is the expectation of the government that this year’s exercise will receive the usual support to build upon the successes achieved in the previous years.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that the 2023 edition of the ‘Green Ghana Day’ will come off on Friday, June 9, 2023. I will be under the theme ‘Our forest, our health’.
The official launch of the project will commence in May by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in Kumasi.
Mr. Jinapor appealed to all Ghanaians and persons living in the country to support the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to make this year’s Green Ghana Day a success.
“As we did last year, we have compartments for adoption by private institutions and we will brand these compartments with their names and logos. And as always, seedlings will be made available here at the ministry, the district offices of the Forestry Commission, and various designated locations for collection on the Green Ghana Day. A detailed schedule of the seedling distribution and pick-up points will be published in due course,” he stated.
“Trees play a crucial role in our survival and the survival of planet earth. The statement that ‘when the last tree dies, the last man dies,’ still holds true today. Let us, therefore, all join hands together, and Green Ghana on Friday, June 9, 2023,” he added.
