Green Ghana: Lands Ministry designates seedling centres

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has designated centres for people to collect seedlings for planting on the Green Ghana Day next Friday.
The centres are located on the premises of the ministry, the Forestry Commission (FC) Head Office at Achimota, opposite the main entrance to GIMPA, the National Theatre and the Trade Fair Centre at La, all in Accra.

The seedlings will also be deposited at all 50 Forestry Services Division (FSD) offices across the country, the 200 FSD ranges, regional coordinating councils (RCCs), metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), Parks and Gardens offices, community centres and designated chiefs’ palaces.

This was disclosed to the Daily Graphic by the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Forestry, Benito Owusu-Bio, ahead of the Green Ghana Day next Friday, during which 20 million tree seedlings are expected to be planted across the country.

The deputy minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Atwima Nwabiagya North, added that some shopping malls, schools and church premises would also serve as collection points for the seedlings.

Readiness
Mr Owusu-Bio, who chairs the National Planning Committee of the Green Ghana Day, said over 20 million seedlings had already been nursed and prepared for planting.

“We have fruit trees — mango, coconut, orange, avocado; ornamental trees, such as flamboyant; fuel wood — cassia, acacia and militia, and timber trees, such as mahogany, Wawa, teak and Cinderella,” he said.

He encouraged members of the public to go to any of the designated collection points and pick their desired seedlings for planting.

“It is a call to national duty and we must demonstrate patriotism by actively participating in this all-important national exercise,” he added.
The planning committee, including officials of the ministry and the FC, have had engagements with key stakeholders, especially traditional rulers and members of the Diplomatic Corps, to help mobilise the people for the exercise.

Earlier exercise
Over five million trees were planted across the country on June 11, last year, at the beginning of the programme to help restore the country’s degraded landscape and mitigate the impact of climate change.

Checks by the Daily Graphic in some parts of the country and interactions with officials of the FC a fortnight ago revealed that although the survival rate of the trees was good, inadequate nurturing was affecting their development.

The checks revealed that many of the trees planted in forest areas had survived and were growing well.

Relatedly, trees which were planted by personalities such as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House; the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin within the precincts of Parliament, and the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu at the Royal Golf Club in Kumasi are all blossoming.

Also, trees planted by the members of the Diplomatic Corps at the Seismological Centre, near the Head Office of the FC, near Greenhill, GIMPA, have all survived.

Meanwhile, while some of the trees planted in off-forest reserves, including on school compounds and in the medians of roads, have survived, others are battling with weeds for survival.