The Ghanaian government has achieved its aim of planting at least 5 million trees on Friday in a bid to protect and regrow the country’s lost forests and curb the impacts of climate change, the president said.
Marking the Green Ghana Day, President Nana Akufo led from the front to plant millions of trees.
The President took the center stage at Jubilee House, the seat of Ghana’s presidency, President Akufo-Addo and planted a seedling of lignum vitae, one of the world’s strongest hardwoods. The species is locally referred to as the “Tree of Life” for its medicinal qualities.
“The exploitation of forest resources for national development has not been sustainable over the years,” Akufo-Addo said in a speech marking the country’s inaugural Green Ghana Day.
“We don’t have tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to do this. We have to act now,” he added.
Days leading to the day, more than 7 million seedlings were distributed to Ghanaian parks, schools and businesses according to the lands ministry.
Planting kits were also handed out at shopping malls in major cities. Participants chose from a selection of fruit, crop or ornamental trees.
By noon on Friday, nearly 2.7 million of the targeted 5 million seedlings had been planted, Ghana’s forestry commission wrote on Facebook.
The government plans for Green Ghana Day to become an annual event, with an ambitious goal of expanding the day’s planting target from 5 million to 100 million trees by 2024.
The expansion of farming, and to a lesser degree mining and logging, has caused Ghana’s forest areas to deplete by 80% since 1900 according to the country’s statistics.
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