The Managing Campaigner at EcoCare Ghana, Obed Owusu-Addai is urging Ghanaians to join the efforts of the government in restoring degraded forests across the country through various interventions.
Obed Owusu-Addai noted that the negative effects of degraded forests, which are bringing about climate change, would not affect only one person, and therefore called for concerted efforts from all in the drive to restore the degraded forests.
He made the appeal during the launch of a five-year Community-Led Restoration Project at Akomadan in the Ashanti Region, which is to restore 1,000 hectares of degraded forests in the transitional landscape in Ghana.
The Transition Landscape of Ghana, which falls between the High Forest and the Savannah landscapes, has seen massive degradation and forest loss in recent years due to excessive agricultural expansion, increasing demand for charcoal, bush fires and uncontrolled logging activities.
In line with this, EcoCare Ghana an NGO with its partners One Tree Planted, Afri100 and Terra Matchave launched a five-year, Community-led Restoration Project where 300,000 tree seedlings are to be planted in 1,000 hectares in five communities in the Offinso North and South Districts both in the Ashanti Region and the Techiman Municipality in the Bono East Region.
The objective is to strengthen the transition landscape’s climate change, resilience mitigation and adaptive capacity.
The Managing Campaigner at EcoCare Ghana, Obed Owusu-Addai said, “in the first three years we will plant 300,000 tree seedlings, indigenous ones such as Odum, Ofram among others. Then we use the remaining two years to take care of the trees.”
In line with this, Mr. Owusu-Addai urged Ghanaians to support the Government’s drive in planting trees to restore the degraded forests across the country.
The Chief of Bonsua, Nana Kwaku Amankwa II on his part said;
“Years ago we used to have many trees here in Akomadan, but the story is different today. Our cocoa farms at Bonsua in Offinso South are not doing well. Our cocoa farms are not doing well because of the situation. Because of this, the youth are not encouraged to go into farming. I am appealing to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry to support this project. I also wish that when people are celebrating their birthdays, they should plant at least a tree.”