Green Ghana Project: Hon Rebecca Yeboah, Nana Ama Ampomah Plant 15,000 Trees To Preserve Environment
Majority of Ghanaians today, 11/06/2021 came together to plant trees at various places in a national tree planting exercise as part of efforts to green the country.
More than five million tree seedlings of different species were planted and nurtured to maturity as an aggressive measure to preserve the country’s forest cover and the environment and roll back climate change and its debilitating impact.
Marking the Green Ghana Project, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atwima Nwabiagya North, Hon Rebecca Yeboah and the Ashanti Regional Women’s Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ama Ampomah planted 15,000 trees to contribute to the success of the project.
Other personalities that joined the tree planting exercise were the District Director of Education of Atwima Nwabiagya North, Frank Duah Boateng, the Barekese Water Treatment Plant Manager, John Koppoe, Pastor Bright Asare Jnr, Pastor Emmanuel Antwi Boasiako and Apostle J.O. Kesse.
Teachers and students of the Barekese Senior High School and workers of the Barekese Dam took time off their busy schedules to join the exercise at the school premises and the Barekese Dam respectivefully.
Speaking to Wontumi News after the exercise, the DCE for Atwima Nwabiagya North, Hon Rebecca Yeboah urged residents to stop encroaching the Barekese Dam to save the Dam from drying.
She said rampant deforestation and use of agrochemicals on farmlands close to the dam’s buffer zones are impacting the quality of water being generated from the Dam.
‘Tree cutting and use of agrochemicals on the encroached land, are major challenges,’she stressed.
Hon Rebecca Yeboah reiterated the importance of the tree planting exercise saying it is a generational investment adding that it should not be downplayed.
She warned that deviants who would be caught dsetroying the environment by cutting down the trees around the Dam shall be dealt with according to the law.
For her part, the Ashanti Regional Women’s Organiser of the NPP, Nana Ama Ampomah commended President Nana Addo and the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor for the laudable initiative.
She appealed to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to make June 11 each year as a tree planting day.
Nana Ama Ampomah was quick to praise the Hon. Rebecca Yeboah for her initiave to plant the 15,000 trees and urged all DCEs to copy the contribution of the DCE for a greener Ghana.
‘Let me take this opportunity to thank Hon. Rebecca Yeboah for her bold initiative to make Atwima Nwabiagya North greener and i would also like to urge DCEs to emulate the gesture for a better and greener environment’, she noted.
The Ashanti Regional NPP Women’s Organiser indicated that the exercise aims among other things to offset deforestation and help grow a new generation of young Ghanaians mindful of the benefits of trees.
The District Education Director for Atwima Nwabiagya North, Frank Duah Boateng underscored the importance of tree planting saying it has the potential of reversing global warming and climate change.
He explained that the tree planting exercise must be embraced by all since it has serious future benefits.
Background
The government’s initial target of planting five million trees in a day under its Green Ghana Project has now ballooned, following the expression of interest in the initiative by a number of organizations.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the Green Ghana Project in the 2021 State of the Nation Address in March to mobilize Ghanaians for an aggressive nationwide tree planting exercise.
Subsequently, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, on March 23, this year, launched the greening project as part of activities to mark this year’s International Day of Forests, which fell on March 21.
Personalities
The tree planting exercise commencde with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, and the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, planting trees.
Other high-profile personalities who have shown interest in the project are former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama, as well as the Rawlings Foundation.
By: Aboagye Frank Jackson