Tomorrow, June 11, the Government of Ghana is embarking on an exercise to plant five million trees across the country as an initial programme under its GREEN GHANA PROJECT. As the exercise takes place tomorrow, Ghanaians would be mobilized to plant trees and nurture them to maturity as a way of contributing to the preservation of the environment.
Tomorrow’s exercise will kick-start with the ceremonial planting by President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Vice President, Dr. Muhamadu Bawumia, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Bagbin and the Chief Justice Anim Yeboah.
This initiative is being supported by Christian Churches in Ghana as part of their environmental care campaign, a step in the right direction.
The Catholic Church has launched a one million tree planting agenda to start during the raining season while the Church of Pentecost has also started the planting of one million trees and the Methodist Church, 1.4 million Trees across the country.
The recognition given by Churches to plant millions of trees this year across the country is an attestation that they (Churches) indeed recognize the importance of trees and vegetation to the sustenance of life. It is indeed a step in the right direction since there is a need to encourage the planting of trees to safeguard the earth and its natural resources due to climate change and global warming.
As part of the commitment of Churches, Christians have the responsibilities of supporting their leaders in embarking on this tree planting agenda to achieve the government’s five million trees target for the GREEN GHANA project as well as to secure the country’s forest cover and maintain environmental conservation.
Tree is life and, therefore, there is the need to safeguard the forest cover of the country. The indiscriminate felling down of trees and the surge in the illegal mining popularly known in Ghana as “galamsey” activities, especially in river bodies and forest zones which is posing a serious threat to both human and aquatic lives must be nip in the bud.
The government’s Green Ghana project interestingly also falls in line with the Methodist Church’s annual “Arbor” Day event which also involves the planting of trees, and where children of the Church’s school children, young people and adults are encouraged to plant trees to help grow the vegetation so that they can live better.
This calls for the revival of the “Arbor” Day celebration in Schools in the country with the aim of teaching the best practices of planting trees to save the ecology. “Arbor Day”, which is observed in many countries, is a day set aside to encourage individuals and groups to plant and care for trees as part of efforts to fight climate change. It is celebrated at the beginning of the raining season.
National Arbor Day is celebrated every year on the last Friday in April to observe the planting of trees and on the first Arbor Day, April 10, 1872, an estimated one million trees were planted. However, Arbor Day is determined by the best planting season for each particular country. In South Africa, Arbor Day was on September 1 and Arbor week from the 1 to 7 September.
The celebration of the day, if revived in Ghana, and properly organised, will help citizens especially school children to appreciate and understand the importance of a clean and sound environment.
It is time, Ghanaians through the celebration of Arbor Day or Week are encouraged to plant trees in their homes to support government’s effort of saving the environment.
The indiscriminate mining in Ghana is another area that the Government, Churches, Non-governmental Organisations and Ghanaians in general must step up efforts to find solutions to this ailing problem. Churches must be ready to partner government to reclaim the “galamsey” mining sites by planting trees and endeavour to protect such reclaimed areas too.
Stakeholders need to establish a network to protect water bodies and the environment as done in Europe and America. Since we are all actors to damages of the environment so we need to be part of the solution.
Indeed, the earth, which is a like a mother to mankind, need to be respected and protected with a sense of dignity because human beings live and depend on it in all spheres, calling for greater attention for the poor, needy and the disadvantaged.
What kind of world do we want to handover to those who come after us? There is the need for the global authority for that matter Ghana to deal with environmental issues diligently.
It is in the light of this that we must all put our shoulder to the wheel to reverse the trend. Also, we must all embrace the reforestation concept and make tree planting second nature to us.
As a matter of urgency and in the interest of posterity, let us endeavour to leave the environment in a better shape to protect our own lives and the lives of the unborn generation.
As a nation, we need to condemn and declare war on the activities of illegal mining and illegal chain saw operators and be mindful of the saying “do not cut your nose to spite your own face.” As an Akan proverb, also says, “if you cut your own tongue and smoke it to eat, you have not eaten any good meat.”
This is because without trees there will be no oxygen for *the sustenance of life. And so the last tree will definitely go with the last man. What a truism and simple logic! Above all, the Word of God admonishes man “to take care of the Garden of Eden” (Gen. 2:15) where God put man after creation.
It, therefore, behoves on man, to use the forest responsibly. However, what do we see today? Day in day out, trees are being cut down and burned arbitrarily, not mindful of the consequences.
It is sad that environmental degradation is taking a toll on Ghana. God has been so gracious to the country in granting the nation with favourable weather coupled with fertile soil and abundant rainfall for agricultural activities which sustain the people.
The country abounds in natural resources, notably among them are gold, diamond, manganese, salt and oil. God gave us these resources for our benefit but our irresponsible usage of these gracious gifts is having far reaching consequences on us. In effect, we are abusing such golden opportunity to our own peril.
The forest is another resource that is so crucial to our very existence as my little knowledge in biology tells me that the oxygen we breathe is given by the plants and the carbon dioxide which we breathe out is also absorbed by the plants for photosynthesis. What a beautiful coexistence between man and plants designed by God, the Maker of the earth and everything therein.
As Christian Churches embark on environmental care campaign in support of government’s GREEN GHANA project initiative, Ghanaians need to remind themselves that by planting trees, they are giving more life to the nation because the tree is life.
Planting of trees is an act of optimism and kindness, a labour of love and a commitment to stewardship, hence, the GREEN GHANA project in itself should not be a nine-day wonder but an annual project for the nation to get back its lost glory of green vegetation.
