The 2023 edition of the Green Ghana Day will be held on June 9 at Kumasi, on the theme: ‘Our Forests, Our Health’. The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, will officially launch the Day at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) next month. The Government has approved a budget of 2.5 million Ghana cedis for this year’s exercise. Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, who announced this at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, said it intended to plant 10 million seedlings across the country. The Green Ghana Project was launched by President Akufo-Addo in 2021 as part of the Government’s aggressive afforestation and re-afforestation programme to restore the degraded landscape. So far, about 31 million seedlings have been planted nationwide with an average survival rate of 81 and 72 per cent in 2021 and 2022, respectively. ‘This year, we have revised our target downwards to ten million (10,000,000) trees. This will give us space to devote some resources and attention to the trees planted over the last two years, while not losing momentum on our quest to restore our degraded landscape,’ Mr Jinapor said. He expressed the hope that it would receive the usual massive support from the public to build upon the successes achieved in 2021 and 2022. He urged the media to carry the message across and mobilise support towards the success of the project. He appealed to all well-meaning Ghanaians, including chiefs and queen-mothers, religious and faith-based organisations, civil and public servants and students, to support the Ministry to make this year’s Green Ghana Day a success. ‘As we did last year, we have compartments for adoption by private institutions, and we will brand these compartments with their names and logos,’ he said. Seedlings will be made available at the Ministry, District Offices of the Forestry Commission, and at various designated locations for collection on the Day. The Minister said details of the seedling distribution and pick-up points will be published in due course. ‘Trees play a crucial role in our survival and the survival of planet earth…When the last tree dies, the last man dies,’ he added. Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, a Deputy Minister of the Lands, in charge of Foresry, told the media that it had so far secured 7.5 million seedlings and expected to receive the remaining 2.5 million from donors. The Forestry Commission provided three million seedlings, the Mineral Commission supplied three million, while Plantation Fund Board and Rotary clubs and churches have supplied 500,000 and one million seedlings, respectively, he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency