Green Ghana Day: Church of Pentecost plants 1.6 million seedlings

The Church of Pentecost has so far planted 1.6 million seedlings, with an 87 per cent survival rate, to support the Green Ghana project of protecting the environment.The Church had pledged to plant one million seedlings across the country to affirm its support for this year's project.Apostle Samuel Gyau Oboubi, the General Secretary of the Church of Pentecost, announced this when a delegation from the Forestry Commission called on the Church to join the national tree planting campaign scheduled for June 7, 2024.This year is the fourth edition of the project with a target of planting 10 million trees across the country.Green Ghana Day was launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2021 under the auspices of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.It is to restore the lost forest cover of the country, devastated by illegal small-scale mining and timber logging.Apostle Oboubi lauded the green Ghana project, saying it was a civic responsibility for Ghanaians to save the environment.He called on religious bodies, civil society organisations, and other institutions to come on board to support the initiative for success.'Our God is interested in the environment, and as a Church that takes inspiration from the Bible, it is important to take good care of the environment,' he said.He expressed concern about the activities of illegal miners in the country, which had destroyed the environment, and called on the authorities to urgently take bold decisions to ameliorate the situation.Mr John Allotey, the Chief Executive Officer, Forestry Commission, lauded the Church for their support over the years in planting at both forest reserves and outside reserve forests.Mr Allotey said the Commission had established a monitoring committee to measure the survival rate of the seedlings every six months.He said the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and its agencies had made available seedlings, which include tree plants, ornamental plants, and fruit plants.The Commission, in collaboration wit h other security services, had deployed a task force in the forest reserves to curtail the activities of 'galamsey' in the area.He called on Ghanaians to get involved in the project by planting a tree in each institution to replenish the lost ones.Source: Ghana News Agency