“Without Trees, there is No Life”

In 2021, the Green Ghana project was introduced as part of an aggressive national afforestation and reforestation programme to restore the lost forest cover of Ghana. The program hopes to contribute to the global effort to ease climate change, teach the youth the values of planting, and nurturing trees and their associated benefits. The project’s first event was held on June 11, 2021, where an estimated 7 million tree seedlings were planted across the nation.

This year, the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, declared June 10, 2022, as Green Ghana Day, under the theme “Mobilizing for a Greener Future”. The aim of this initiative was to plant at least 20 million trees on the said day.

The Green Ghana initiative also seeks to:
• Enhance livelihoods towards communities through engagement in the production of tree seedlings
• Lessen watersheds
• Enhance our communities and environment

The World Cocoa Foundation through its Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI) organized a tree planting event, co-funded by Partnerships for Forests(P4F). The event took place in Mankron, a cocoa growing community near Suhum in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where students of the D/A Basic school and company member farmers in the area came together to plant trees. About 150 farmers were present. WCF donated 100 watering cans to the Ministry of Lands and National Resources and 60 to the farmers who were present. Chief Nene Baffour Narh Sikansua III attended the event and   acknowledged that [the tree planting event] was a blessing to the community as the state of forests now is not the state their forefathers left behind.

“In the olden days, there was lots of rain in the rainy season, enough sunshine, and vegetations and food crops grew well. But now, due to wrongful cutting of trees which destroys the forests, there is a change in the climate. Rains do not come in the rainy season and crops do not grow as they used to. We are really suffering as a result. So now that (…) you have brought these trees to be planted, I know that tree is life; without trees, there is no life; when all trees die on this earth, all human beings will die as well. All we can say is that we thank you and we will do our best to protect the trees for things to go back to how peaceful they were some years ago if you help us plant these trees to replace those that have been lost through deforestation for everyone’s happiness and for our nation Ghana,” he concluded.