VRA, GES partner Forestry Commission to plant 3,000 trees
The Volta River Authority (VRA) has, in partnership with the Asuogyaman District Directorate of the Ghana Education Service in the Eastern Region, planted 3,000 forest trees as woodlot farms in five senior high schools in the district.
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The exercise, which was carried out under the supervision of the district Forestry Commission (FC), was part of the government’s Greening Ghana Project aimed at restoring the lost forest tree cover for the nation.
The five senior high schools in the district where the trees were planted were the Akwamuman Senior High, Adjeina Senior High Technical, Apeguso Senior High, Anum Presbyterian Senior High and Boso Senior High Technical.
Prior to the planting exercise last Friday, on the theme “Our Forests, Our Health” there was a durbar for the participating schools at Akwamuman SHS, where an environmental club for the Akwamuman SHS was inaugurated by VRA to ensure that the trees planted survived.
Threats
The Director, Engineering Services Department of the VRA, Kwaku Wiafe, who stood in for the VRA Chief Executive, noted with concern that the country’s forests faced unprecedented threats such as deforestation, unsustainable land use practices, and climate change, saying it was why VRA had been participating in all the editions of the Green Ghana Day celebrations since 2021.
“To this end, the VRA is committed to implementing sustainable practices in our operations.
We recognise the importance of reducing our carbon footprint, embracing renewable energy sources and minimising our impact on the environment.
Through innovation and collaboration, we aim to lead by example and inspire others to follow suit.”
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“We are passionate about the Green Ghana Day as it underpins our efforts to green the entire catchment area of the Volta Lake which spans over 60 political districts, to sustain our Hydro Power Generation,” Mr Wiafe emphasised.
He added that VRA’s assessment of the planted seedlings this year indicated a high survival rate of 96 per cent, which was far above the forestry standard of 70 per cent and that demonstrated the authority’s aim of not only planting, but ensuring that the planted trees survived.
Recognition
The Administrator, Bamboo and Rattan Unit of the FC, Victory Aba Neizer, said that the commission recognised and cherished the effort of the VRA to preserve and protect the forest vegetation through planting of trees including bamboo and community-based education and sensitisation.
She said the FC had developed a bamboo nursery at Kyebi Apapam in the Eastern Region with a capacity of 200,000 bamboo seedlings.
She explained that the commission had included bamboo in this year’s programme, since it is a fast –growing plant and can do all wood works, in order to reverse the depleted forest.
The Acting Director, Environment and Sustainable Development, Ulysses Ocran-Hammond, said VRA would periodically monitor the environmental clubs inaugurated in the schools, to ensure the trees planted in the schools survived.
The Asuogyaman Head of Supervision and Monitoring of the Ghana Education Service, Samuel Wadie Addo, who spoke on behalf of the GES, gave an assurance that the education directorate in the district would ensure that teachers inculcated the culture of maintenance of the environment into their lessons.