Tropenbos Ghana and EcoCare Ghana supported the Bono East Regional Office of Forestry Commission to commemorate Green Ghana Day. As part of the support, the Two (2) organisations donated Thirty- Nine Thousand (39000) indigenous and fruit tree seedlings to the Forestry Commission which was shared to be planted at vantage locations across the region.
In a press statement to communicate their support for the Green Ghana Day Commemoration, the partners indicated that they were motivated to support the initiative because, it is in line with The European Union-funded LEAN project goals of “restoring Ghana’s degraded landscapes, mitigating climate change and enhancing the livelihoods of rural communities”.
They also joined the Regional Minister, Chiefs, Queen mothers, Staff of the Forestry Commission, Students and Community Members of Techiman to plant tree seedlings along the bank of the Tano River to commemorate the Day on the 11th of June 2021.
In her welcome address, the Bono East Regional Manager of the Forestry Commission, Ms Lucy Amoh Ntim stated that her office was given a target to plant Three hundred thousand (30000) tree seedlings which they exceeded. She urged everyone to protect the seedlings and nurture them to maturity to help mitigate climate change, create habitats for wildlife and restore degraded ecosystems in the region.
Speaking to the media after the exercise, Mr Obed Owusu-Addai reiterated the need to incentivise farmers to continue nurturing naturally occurring trees on their farms by addressing the gaps in the current tree tenure regime. He said giving farmers the ownership of naturally occurring trees on their lands/farms will motivate them to protect those trees. This he emphasized will contribute to achieving the Green Ghana Day objectives of restoring degraded landscapes in Ghana and enhancing the livelihood of rural communities.
The LEAN project’s objective is to directly contribute to the national efforts of conserving biodiversity, improving livelihoods of smallholder farmers, increasing climate change resilience and reducing emissions from land-use changes in the savannah, high forest and transition zones of Ghana. The four-year project funded by the European Union would be implemented by Rainforest Alliance in partnership with World Vision Ghana, EcoCare Ghana and Tropenbos Ghana in the High Forest, Savannah and Transition Landscapes of Ghana respectively.
Click to read more about the LEAN Project: http://www.ecocareghana.org/lean/)
