President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged Ghanaians to support the national agenda of planting 20 million trees as set by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
He is of the view that the target set by the sector ministry is attainable, if everyone would join in the effort to achieve it.
According to the President about 1.6 billion people globally depend on forest for their livelihoods whiles in Ghana some 85% of the population rely on forest resources for subsistence to satisfy their socio-cultural needs.
He made the remarks when he was addressing a gathering at the Efua Sutherland park in Accra on Friday, June 10, 2022. The event took place under the theme “Mobilising for a Greener Future”, as part of marking the 2022 edition of the Green Ghana Day project.
President Akufo-Addo said despite the importance of the forest to human existence, our forests are depleting at an alarming rate.
“Some 18 years ago, half of the earth’s surface was covered by forest. Today, with an estimated forest area of four billion hectares, forest cover less than 30% of the world’s surface”.
“In the last three decades alone, the world has lost one billion and 37 million, 846 thousand, 602 arches of forest, more than 10% of the current total forest area.”
“More troubling is the current date that shows that globally, we are losing 150 arches of rain forest every single minute, 200,000 acres a day and 79 million a year and this is just rain forest,” the President added.
Highlighting the measures to deal with the challenging situation of the forest cover, President Akufo-Addo mentioned that his administration has embarked on an aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme aimed at restoring the lost forest cover.
“It is in this spirit that I call on each and every one of you, whether you are a Ghanaian or not, in so far as you are in Ghana, to join us today (10 June) to plant at least, 20 million trees.
“I call on Members of Parliament, members of Corporate Ghana, traditional leaders, entrepreneurs, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, judges, workers, farmers, bankers, students, religious leaders, traders, civil servants, public servants, members of the diplomatic corps and indeed, every person living in Ghana as well as those visiting Ghana on Green Ghana Day, to help us plant these trees,” he said.
The President concluded by encouraging that “together, let us build a greener future, for current and future generations of Ghanaians and mankind.”
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, in his remarks noted the 2022 nationwide tree planting exercise will see 10 million of the 20 million trees planted in forest reserves across the country.
The remaining 10 million, he said, will be planted in unforested areas including water sheds, boundaries, office compounds, sites within communities such as parks, roadsides, homes, Churches, Mosques, schools and other significant areas.
“Given the very ambitious nature of our target, we have had to mobilize 20 million seedlings, distribute them, get them planted and develop a framework to nurture them to maturity,” said Mr. Abu Jinapor added.
