Ghana’s forest cover depleted by 80% – Lands Minister

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has disclosed that the country’s forest cover has been depleted by 80% over the years due to activities of illegal miners and other factors.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, the minister said the development was very “alarming”.

He underscored the need for the country to take immediate steps to protect its forest cover.

“It is startling to note that as at 19:00 hrs, the forest cover of Ghana stood at 8,200,000 hectares of forest cover. This forest cover is depleted by a whopping 80% and today as we speak our forest cover stands at as just 1,600,000 hectares of forest cover. This is to say the least, alarming and therefore the time for action is now. We have come to this point essentially through years of systematic degradation and forest degradation without the commensurate afforestation,” he lamented

The Member of Parliament for the Damongo Constituency said that it on the back of this worrying trend that the government will launch the Green Ghana Project to address the menace.

He explained that “the project of greening Ghana is a very important national undertaken which seeks to restore the forest cover of our country in the short to medium term”.

The Minister thus called on the public to lend their support for the project stating that “on that day we are asking all Ghanaians to come out in their numbers to support the exercise” when it is launched on Friday, June 11, 2021.

The Green Ghana Project which is going to be rolled out over a 5 year period will see the systematic implementation of policies, programs, and action plans which will result in the restoration of the forest cover of the country.

In total, 6 million seedlings will be distributed across the country to kick start the Green Ghana day on Friday, June 11 2021.