Marshallans pledge to plant 500,000 trees by 2022

The Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall, a Catholic-friendly society, has pledged to plant and nurture 500,000 trees between now and 2022.

It has, therefore, directed all its branches in Ghana to collaborate with the Forestry Commission and other local authorities to identify suitable lands and appropriate trees for planting in areas such as degraded lands, along water bodies, churches and school compounds in their various communities.

“This is to ensure that the tree planting programme is consistent with the land use plan of the area. Additionally, the trees should not just be planted and abandoned, but should be nurtured till they grow and a report with pictures submitted to the Supreme Council through the Monitoring and Evaluation Officers of the Order to enable us to quantify our contribution in this exercise,” a communique signed by the Supreme Knight, Sir Kt Brother Charles Cobb, said.

Strategic objective

The communique, issued at the end of the Standing Committee meeting of the Knights of Marshall in Sekondi, said the society noted with modest satisfaction that in pursuit of a key strategic objective of the Noble Order to contribute towards environmental protection, its members in various parts of the country planted and nurtured a total of 130,000 trees from 2015 to 2020.

It explained that at its meeting held in Sekondi from June 11-12, 2021, members of the Standing Committee discussed emerging issues related to the environment and reviewed the efforts of the Noble Order towards environmental protection as captured in its Strategic Plan, which, it said, was inspired by Pope Francis' Encyclical on Care for our Common Home (Laudato Si).

It said the recent enthusiasm shown by the government and the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference in tree planting had re-energised the Noble Order to do more planting of trees.

It, therefore, urged its members to collaborate with the laudable idea of conserving the environment.

It noted that as a symbolic launch of the tree planting exercise, the Supreme Director, Sir Knight Bro. Veteran Commander Dr Edmund S K Kwaw and the Supreme Knight, Sir Knight Bro. Charles L L Cobb, in the presence of other higher officers of the Noble Order planted trees at the end of their meeting on June 12, 2021, at the Marshallan Centre at Bakaekyir, Sekondi, to kick-start the Marshallan action towards the realisation of its commitment to plant 500,000 trees.

“We are of the firm belief that caring for our ‘common home’ through efforts such as planting of trees is a call to duty by all citizens as a moral, civic and spiritual responsibility,” it stated.

Education

The communique noted that to motivate people towards environmental care, there was need for environmental education and sensitisation anchored on the various belief systems of the citizens.

“We, therefore, commit to undertake such environmental sensitisation of communities and other stakeholders to see the need to work together in a collaborative manner towards protecting our environment,” it stated.