Tropenbos, EcoCare donate 39,000 seedlings to support Green Ghana Project
Tropenbos Ghana and EcoCare Ghana have donated 39,000 tree & fruit seedlings to support the government’s Green Ghana Project.
The two organizations made the indigenous and fruit tree seedlings available to the Bono East Regional Office of the Forestry Commission to support the government’s tree planting exercise.
The two members of the European Union-funded Landscapes and Environmental Agility across the Nation (LEAN) project also extended their commendations to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for the timely intervention to save Ghana’s forests.
“In line with the objective of the LEAN project, our partnership is also committed to supporting the government as we all embark on an agenda to restore Ghana’s degraded landscapes, mitigate climate change and enhance the livelihoods of rural communities,” a joint statement from the two organizations said.
In its efforts to revamp Ghana’s forestry sector, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has introduced a five million tree planting programme slated for Friday, June 11, 2021.
“As part of the programme, we are seeking to work out a formula where the trees to be planted will be economic trees. We are talking about the Timber, Wawa, Nim, Rosewood, Shea trees. The rationale for this intervention is so that in planting the trees, we are also making an investment for the future” Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor.
80% Of Ghana’s Forest Destroyed
The country’s forest cover has been depleted, with only 20% remaining.
This is because the 8,200,000 hectares of forest cover that the country had around 1900 has reduced to 1,600,000 hectares due to destruction.
These practices include illegal mining (galamsey), harvesting trees, agriculture, wildfire, settlements and other human activities.
Not only that, over the years, there has not been any corresponding aggressive afforestation exercise to ensure the protection of the country’s forest cover, leading to continuous depletion.
Acknowledging the extent of damage made to the forest cover, the government has developed a project to restore the country’s forest cover sufficiently.
About LEAN
The LEAN project’s objective is to directly contribute to conserving biodiversity, improving livelihoods of smallholder farmers, increasing climate change resilience, and reducing emissions from land-use changes in the savannah, high forest, and transition zones of Ghana.
Rainforest Alliance would implement the four-year project funded by the European Union in partnership with World Vision Ghana, Tropenbos Ghana, and EcoCare Ghana in the High Forest, Savannah, and Transition Landscapes of Ghana.
The project will also build climate resilience and promote natural resource conservation through training and mentoring of Twelve Thousand (12,000) smallholders on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) and Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in six selected districts. These districts; Offinso, North, Offinso Municipal, Nkoranza North, Nkoranza South, Techiman North, and Techiman Municipal, all within the forest Savanna transition landscape.
Tropenbos Ghana and EcoCare Ghana call on all organizations and individuals to support the Green Ghana Project to help restore our degraded landscapes.