Let’s nurture planted trees to green Ghana -Forestry Commission

The Forestry Commission (FC) has called on the citizenry to continue to inspect and nurture all planted trees from previous years to maturity to help protect the environment to achieve the impact of tree planting exercise.Though the unfavourable current climate conditions had had some impact on the exercise, it was important to replace all dried trees to ensure the full realisation of the purpose of the Green Ghana project by the government, to preserve the environment.Mr John Allotey, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FC made the call when he paid a courtesy call on Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, the Central Regional Minister on preparations towards the upcoming Green Ghana Day.He was accompanied by Mrs Joyce Ofori Kwafo, the Corporate Affairs and Media Relations Manager of FC, Mr Bennet Ntiamoah, the Regional Manager of the FC and other District Officers.'We need to regularly inspect all planted trees to see whether they're doing well or not, and revamp dying ones,' he appealed.Mr Allotey sai d the country had projected to plant more than 10 million trees on Friday, June 09, the day of the exercise and was optimistic to meet the target or probably exceed it.'The citizenry has shown commitment and support over the years,' he said and encouraged them to continue to partake in the tree planting exercise, as the surest way to recover depleted forest reserves and water bodies for the benefits of all.More than 600,000 trees are expected to be planted in the Central Region with focus on revamping about 80 per cent of lost forest reserves and other areas of importance.The forest remaining 20 per cent would be distributed to available spaces requiring trees such as fruit bearing and ornamental trees.Mrs Assan pledged her full support and commitment to the project and urged all to show up on the day and make the Central Region greener.The team later inspected some previous sites where trees had been planted over the last three years and this included the University of Cape Coast campus, where many of the trees had been matured and were growing well.Mr Samuel Jinapor, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, earlier this year launched the Green Ghana Day project with a call on the citizenry to commit to plant and grow at least 10 million trees, for a greener tomorrow and for the survival of generations unborn.He said the government was pursuing an aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme, which had led to the cultivation of almost 721,000 hectares of forest between 2017 and 2023, under the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy.Source: Ghana News Agency