Forestry Commission to plant 500,000 trees in Central Region

More than half a million tree seedlings have been raised for distribution for this year’s "Tree for Life" initiative in the Central Region.

In support of the campaign, the Central Regional Director of the Forestry Commission, Emmanuel Owusu-Nkwantabisa, disclosed that the region had targeted the establishment of 700 hectares of new plantations to promote afforestation in the region.

Speaking during a tree planting exercise at the Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to launch the “Tree for Life” initiative in the region, Mr Owusu-Nkwantabisa said the commission would distribute 100,000 seedlings for beautification projects, while 300,000 seedlings were ready for agroforestry.

Also, he said, the commission would replant and enrich 150 hectares of forest reserves in the region.

He encouraged residents to collect seedlings from the Forestry Commission offices and designated collection points and urged everyone to take personal responsibility for environmental restoration.

“Together, we can breathe life back into our degraded forests and water bodies. Let’s make the ‘Tree for Life’ initiative a national success,” he stated.

Bold initiatives

The Central Regional Minister, Ekow Panyin Okyere Eduamoah, in his address, proposed bold tree planting initiatives to combat environmental degradation.

Mr Eduamoah proposed adopting tree planting to everyday activities as part of efforts to effectively green Ghana.

He called for collective action from all stakeholder institutions to use all platforms, social, educational and religious, to revive Ghana’s rapidly degrading environment.

He urged all, including the clergy, to use privileges to emphasise the need for all to re-green the environment for now and the future.

The minister emphasised the urgent need to shift societal behaviour towards sustainable environmental practices. 

Over 20 trees were planted during the ceremony to mark the official commencement of the exercise in the Central Region.

Activities

Mr Eduamoah stressed that to make tree planting more impactful and culturally ingrained, it should be linked with activities that deeply influenced Ghanaians.

He proposed that religious leaders tie their prophetic messages to tree growing, arguing that if people believed they would face dire consequences for not planting trees, they would act without hesitation.

“If someone is told their life depends on planting a tree, they won’t waste time,” he said, highlighting the psychological influence of religion on behavioural change.

Going further, he called on universities to introduce policies that would require students to plant trees before they were allowed to graduate.

“Imagine every graduating student planting 10 trees and identifying their locations.

Multiply that across all universities, it would create a lasting change,” he remarked.

Employment requirement

The minister also suggested that job seekers should present evidence of tree planting as part of their employment process in public institutions.

He further proposed that courts consider reducing jail terms for convicts if their families committed to planting hundreds of trees as a means of promoting environmental restoration through civic responsibility.

Mr Eduamoah lamented the destructive impact of current development and farming practices, pointing out that while people were encouraged to plant trees, their actions ended up causing more harm to existing vegetation.

“We must not only plant trees but protect the ones already in place.

The cost of replanting cannot match the benefit of preserving what we have,” he said.

He announced that systems would be put in place to track the survival of the planted trees and hinted at a five-month monitoring exercise to ensure accountability.