Accra, June 10, GNA- Coconut trees planted by Mr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, at a basic school in Accra last year to mark the 2021 Green Ghana Day are growing well.
However, some other plant seedlings planted at the St Mary’s R/C Basic School in Korle Gonno died due to bad weather condition unfavourable soil.
Officials at the School told the Ghana News Agency that the pupils were tasked to water the plants daily.
They said the soil was not conducive for some of the plants, adding that efforts to ensure their survival proved futile.
Mr Adutwum in June last year led the Management of the School to plant trees to signify the support of the Education Ministry to the Government’s Green Ghana Initiative.
The tree planting exercise formed part of measures to restore the country’s degraded landscape and contribute to combatting climate change.
This year’s tree planting campaign, which was marked on Friday, June 10, 2022, and led by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is expected to plant 20 million trees across the country – 15 million more compared to last year’s five million target.
It is also aligned with the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy (2016-2040) and government commitment to various international agreements, including the Sustainable Development Goals, the African Landscape Restoration Initiative and the Bonn Challenge.
An analysis of satellite data published by a U.S.-based World Resource Institute found that the loss of Ghana’s primary forest cover jumped 60 per cent from 2017 to 2018 – almost entirely from its protected areas.
The government, however, refuted the 60 per cent figure, saying it had increased by 31 per cent between 2017 and 2018.
Edward Acquah
