Ghana, Switzerland deepens Bilateral Ties on Mining and Forestry

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has indicated that the governments of Ghana and Switzerland are deepening their bilateral ties to adopt the best responsible mining practices and afforestation to protect and preserve the country’s forest cover.

The two countries have since assured of their commitment to fostering closer collaboration to further strengthen the bilateral relations existing among them in that regard, and other sectors of the economy.

At a meeting with the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Philipp Stalder, on Monday, September 27, Mr Jinapor explained that the preservation of Ghana’s forest cover was critical to economic development.

Therefore, the government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources was working to protect and manage the country’s natural resources and reduce the impact of deforestation on climate change.

Mr Jinapor further highlighted efforts being made by Ghana to develop an efficient Land Administration system, including digitalising the operations of the Lands Commission.

On the Greening Ghana Initiative, the Minister commended the Swiss Ambassador for leading his team to plant trees and touted the many areas of cooperation the two countries could work at for mutual benefits.

He said the Greening Ghana initiative, an effort by the government to fight forest depletion through tree planting, would be scaled up next year.

As part of the programme the government, this year, provided free seedlings to people from all occupations, including celebrities, officials, parliamentarians, traditional leaders and schoolchildren to plant across the country.

The initiative, which was also aimed at encouraging Ghanaians to plant more trees to preserve and protect Ghana’s forest cover and the environment, saw the five million tree-planting drive embarked on during this year’s International Day of Forest.

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The five million tree-planting project was mainly due to the depletion of the country’s forest cover, which has led to only 20% of the 8,200,000 hectares of forest cover that the country had around 1900 remaining.

The Swiss Ambassador, Mr Stalder, commented on the Paris Agreement, noting that there were many potentials in that agreement to protect the environment and mitigation against climate change.

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change with the goal of limiting global warming to well below two, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Ambassador also explained the relevance of mining in the development agenda of both countries and pledged to work with the government to tackle the issues relating to deforestation and climate change.