The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed that the Green Ghana project be institutionalised as an annual event to help conserve the environment.

The day, which will be commemorated on June 11, each year to coincide with the World Day of Forests, is to ensure that the over five million trees planted last Friday are properly nurtured into maturity.

Mr Jinapor said in line with that, his ministry, in collaboration with the Forestry Commission (FC) and other stakeholders, would monitor the progress of the trees, particularly at the local level.

"The planting of these trees is just 20 per cent of the work done because the mechanisms and strategies that will result in the survival of the trees are 80 per cent. We would need to ensure that these trees survive," he added.

The minister said this when he led staff of the ministry to plant trees around their office premises in Accra last Friday.

Other ministers and public officials and organisations also participated in the exercise, which formed part of efforts by the Lands Ministry and the FC to encourage the people to plant more trees to preserve and protect the country’s forest cover and the environment as part of activities to commemorate the International Day of Forest.

They included the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful; the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum; the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, and the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye.

Sustain GGP

While expressing satisfaction for what he described as "massive patronage" of the tree planting exercise, Mr Jinapor said planting trees in itself was not enough to preserve the environment, for which reason conscious efforts must be made to nurture the trees, Timothy Ngnenbe reports.

He, therefore, urged the people to transfer the commitment and enthusiasm with which they participated in the tree planting exercise to nurturing the trees to maturity.

"People have planted the trees in homes, schools and other places, while the FC planted some of the trees on land banks and degraded land sites; we encourage them to take steps to nurture them to survive," the minister said.

Communications Ministry

At the Communications Ministry, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful underscored the need for people to plant trees to save the environment, saying: “Through human activity, we have destroyed most of the vegetative cover in the country. Now we can be part of the solution by planting trees.”

From the St Mary's Catholic Girls’ basic school at Korle Gonno, Accra, Edward Acquah reports that Dr Adutwum led schoolchildren to plant trees in and around the school environs.

He said to support and ensure that the exercise was sustained, each schoolchild in the country would be required to plant and nurture at least one tree, after which he or she would provide periodic reports on the progress of his or her tree.

Joshua Bediako Koomson also reports that Mr Asenso-Boakye led staff of his ministry to plant trees on its premises.

He described the exercise as a positive initiative which would help address some of the environmental challenges in the country.

Ms Dapaah also said her outfit had already started a tree planting programme along water bodies in the country.

From Koforidua, Haruna Yussif Wunpini reports that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Mr Michael Okyere Kofi Baafi, joined residents of the area, including personnel of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the FC, policemen, schoolchildren, traders, chiefs and religious leaders for the exercise at Nkubemu, a suburb of Koforidua.

In all 1,000 tree seedlings were planted within the municipality.

In Asamankese, about 5,000 seedlings were planted in schools, as well as other educational institutions, palaces and public cemeteries, reports Samuel Kyei-Boateng.

The West Akyem Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Seth Oduro-Boadu, and the MP for the area, Mr Charles Acheampong, led hundreds of volunteers to participate in the exercise.