About 150 employee volunteers from Telecel Ghana, together with schoolchildren from the Golden Sunbeam International, have planted over 10,000 seedlings in the northeast quadrant of the Chipa Forest Reserve at Kordiabe to commemorate World Environment Day 2025.
The environmental stewardship exercise aligns with the telecommunications’ sustainability commitments and broader Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy, which includes tree planting and renewable energy integration in its operations.
It also forms part of its annual contribution to the government’s Tree for Life reforestation initiative to restore degraded lands and promote environmental sustainability.
To date, the telco has planted over 30,000 trees at the Achimota and Chipa forest reserves.
Sustainability pillar
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Telecel Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai, planted the first tree as the workforce followed suit.
She said protecting the environment was one of the core elements of Telecel’s sustainability pillar as a business.
She said each year, employees and leadership took time out to plant trees as part of their environmental sustainability commitments.
“I am proud of the contribution we are making to this forest reserve, planting a total of 20,000 trees between 2024 and 2025.
I will encourage other organisations to partner the community to plant more trees as it’s good for our collective health and environment,” she said.
Nurturing
The District Manager of the Tema Ada Forest District, Linda Ansah, said, “Chipa is a degraded forest reserve, so we are impressed that Telecel Ghana comes in annually to collaborate with the Forestry Commission to enable us to restore the reserve to its original state.”
She assured that after the planting exercise, the seedlings will be nurtured and tended to maintain good growth.
For Edem Caleb Agbodja, a second-year junior high school student and member of the Wildlife Club at Golden Sunbeam International School, the planting exercise is part of the bigger fight against climate change.
“I feel happy to be planting trees today to help improve our environment. My advice to my friends and young people is that everyone should try and preserve our environment and wildlife by planting more trees to help combat climate change,” he said.
World Environment Day
The World Environment Day, observed globally on June 5 under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) since 1973, is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world.
This year’s theme was #BeatPlasticPollution with a call on individuals, organisations, industries and governments to adopt sustainable practices that drive systemic change.
The Chipa Forest Reserve, located in the Shai-Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region, has faced increasing pressure from illegal logging and encroachment in recent years.
Telecel Ghana’s reforestation exercise, in coordination with the Ghana Forestry Commission, represents one of the largest corporate-led planting efforts in the region.
