Protect our forest cover

The Forestry Commission has launched a campaign to increase Ghana’s forest cover by planting more than 20 million trees daily in all the regions.

Dubbed, “One Man, One Tree”, the campaign, which is being spearheaded by the Forestry Commission, in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, is also aimed at bringing sustainable forest management to the doorstep of Ghanaians.

This initiative has come at a time when the country’s forest cover is being depleted at an alarming rate. Ghana has lost more than seven million hectares of its forest cover in the last 100 years.

The country’s forest cover, which stood at 8.6 million hectares by the turn of the 19th century, now stands at about 1.6 million hectares.

Launching the programme in Accra on Tuesday, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills, said the impact of the activities of illegal miners and timber operators, if not properly dealt with, could overwhelm the country.

It is envisaged that the campaign, if supported by all Ghanaians, can lead to the planting of more than 26 million trees per annum.

We think this is an exercise worth supporting by all to help protect the country’s forest cover which is on the brink of being depleted completely if the wanton destruction is not halted through a deliberate policy intervention.

Our only worry is that in the past similar exercises did not progress beyond the publicity gimmick.

However, we want to give the organisers a thumbs up for the fact that the campaign was launched on the ‘eve’ of the rainy reason, meaning that very little effort will be put into plans to nurture the trees to grow.

Not too long ago, the government engaged a company to plant trees or carry out an afforestation project in northern Ghana that yielded no results.

After a fortune had been spent on the project, Ghanaians were told that it failed because the trees were planted in the harmattan season.

In a country where the needs of society are competing for limited resources, we can hardly afford the luxury of a wasteful expenditure.

We all ought to police the public purse and ensure that those who are put in charge of the management of state resources are transparent and demonstrate integrity in their activities.

When it comes to the specific initiative of tree planting, we all know how important trees are to our very survival on earth.

The saying: “When the last tree dies, the last man dies” is not just for fun, as trees help in the fight against climate change.

The depletion of the forest cover has affected agricultural production, as the rains do not come regularly to nourish the crops for good yields every year.

This year, for instance, agricultural extension officers have already expressed concern over the poor rains that appear to be hampering the toils of maize farmers.

The Daily Graphic reminds policy makers of the dangers posed by the fast depletion of our forest cover and urges quick fixes to resolve the challenge.

We also appeal to the public to join the campaign to green our environment by protecting what is left of the forest cover and planting trees to reclaim degraded lands.