By Bisola Adeyemo
As part of effort to restore lost forest cover and degraded landscape in Ghana President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, seeks to plant over 20 million tree seedlings across the country.
To achieve this, the president on Tuesday launched the 2022 Green Ghana project for the fight against deforestation and forest degradation.
According to him, the Green Ghana project, slated on Friday, June 10, 2022, is seeking to raise national awareness on the necessity for collective action to restore the degraded landscape in the country.
Speaking on the theme: “Mobilising for a greener future” President Akufo-Addo said the country’s forests continue to be an important natural resource for socio-economic development–providing sources of livelihood to many, and returns from export on wood species.
President Akufo-Addo indicated that while there had been some improvement in the net rate of global forest loss over the last decade, Africa continued to experience an increasing net forest loss.
While calling on joint effort for effective work, the president urged the citizens, stakeholders, and experts to join forces in restoring afforestation in the country to mitigate floods and land degradation.
“We must, therefore, make concerted efforts to protect our forests for the benefit of current and future generations,” he stated.
“Every person living in Ghana participates in the exercise, we have based on expert advice, particularly from the Forestry Commission and the Ghana Meteorological Agency, designated Friday, June 10, 2022, as the 2022 Green Ghana Day.
“On that day, we must all go out to plant and encourage our families and friends to do the same. On that day, we must all make a commitment to leave a legacy for future generations through the planting of trees.” The president added.