Bawku (U/E), June 11, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Omane, the Manager, Bawku Forest District, Forestry Commission, says the Green Ghana initiative would complement efforts being made to restore about 2,000 hectares of degraded lands in the Bawku enclave in the next five years.
The Manager, who made this known to stakeholders at Bawku in the Upper East Region at the launch of the Green Ghana Project, said the government through the Forestry Commission had initiated a 25-year strategic plan to reverse degraded lands in Ghana.
He said the plan dubbed, “The Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy” was part of both global and national commitments to work with stakeholders to restore about 625,000 hectares of degraded lands nationwide by 2040.
The Bawku Forest District in collaboration with major stakeholders was working to restore about 2,000 hectares of degraded lands in the Bawku enclave in the next five years and the Green Ghana project would boost efforts to achieve the intended target, he said.
Mr Omane said about 300 hectares of degraded lands in the area had already been restored.
He said the Bawku Forest District was given a target of 20,000 trees to be planted as part of the Green Ghana Initiative and about 16,000 had been planted as of 1100 hours on June 11, 2021.
Mr Omane noted that the significance of greening the environment was enormous and warned persons who engaged in destroying the environment to desist from the act and instead support the restoration agenda.
“Over the past decade there was a drastic change in the climatic pattern, leading to an increase in temperature, a rise in severity of droughts and floods, and above all the standard of living of many people has dropped substantially due to reduced agricultural yield.
“And all these conditions have been sparked off by activities like deforestation through population explosion, high demand for fuel wood for commercial and domestic consumption, overgrazing by domestic animals, long period of drought and wildfires among others,” he added.
Mr Charles Akwotiga, the Bawku Municipal Director of the Department of Agriculture, noted that tree planting was crucial to boosting agricultural production and improving the livelihoods of farmers.
He said the trees did not only have the potential to address climate change issues such as rainfall pattern among others, but farmers could get food from them which would further increase their income generation avenues.
Zugran Naba Asigri Abugrago Azorka II, the Paramount Chief of Kusaug Traditional Aream, urged the Forestry Commission to prioritize the planting of economic trees such as dawadawa and shea.
He urged the Municipal and District Assemblies in the area to enact laws to punish people who destroy the environment.
He urged all stakeholders to not only plant the trees but also nurture them to grow.
The Green Ghana project seeks to mobilize all major stakeholders to undertake a massive national tree planting exercise annually to support national efforts to achieve the Sustainable Developmental Goals and other global and national commitments on the restoration of the degraded landscape.