Clamp down illegal tree felling - Chief of Staff charges Forestry Commission

The Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, has charged the Forestry Commission (FC) to clamp down on illegal felling of trees in Ghana.

She also urged district, municipal and metropolitan security councils and security agencies to support the commission in its activities.

Mrs Osei-Opare urged the public to report any unlawful felling of trees to the police, saying that it would be of no use if the nation kept planting trees but not protecting the forest cover.

Mrs Osei-Opare said this when she joined the Municipal Chief Executive of the Ga West Municipal Assembly (GWMA), Clement Wilkinson, to plant trees at the Achaiman Basic School as part of activities marking this year's Green Ghana Day in Accra on Friday.

The assembly intends to plant 70,000 trees in schools within the community by the end of June 2023.

Plant seven trees each

Addressing staff and students of the schools in the municipality, the Chief of Staff urged each person to plant at least seven trees so that the future generation would benefit from them. 

She explained that the Green Ghana Day was instituted to address the substantial decline of Ghana’s forest cover caused by human activities and other climatic conditions.

“It is significant to stand up and engage in a nationwide tree planting exercise to reduce health and environmental threats posed by deforestation,” Osei-Opare said.

She said this could be achieved through concerted efforts and broader stakeholder involvement, adding “the set target is to plant 10 million trees across the country.”

The Chief of Staff commended the Amasaman community for a good work done as she observed that trees planted in the municipality last year were blossoming.

Partisan politics

Mr Wilkinson said seedlings would be given to assembly members to distribute to interested persons within their respective electoral areas.

“We will then monitor and advice them as to how to take care of the seedlings to grow,” he said. 

He, however, entreated the people to desist from associating partisan politics with the exercise and rather focus on the significance of the trees.