Day: June 7, 2024

The Central Regional branch of the Forestry Commission has exceeded its target of planting 600,000 trees Friday morning as part of the Green Ghana Day project.

The Region, as at 0800 hours, had distributed 750,000 trees before the exercise began on Friday.

The trees were distributed across the 23 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure a greener region.

This year’s programme focuses on forest reserves, water estuaries, and other areas of importance.

Forest reserves will cover about 80 per cent of the target and the remaining 20 per cent will be planted in areas that are available for planting.

Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, the Central Regional Minister, planted the first symbolic ‘Tree of Life’ to officially commence the exercise, emphasising the importance of trees to mankind.

The Regional Police Command, the Ghana Journalists Association, and staff of the Regional Coordinating Council took turns planting trees after the Minister to show commitment and support for the exercise.

She encouraged the citizenry to plant and nurture the trees to ensure they grew to satisfaction to achieve the goal of preserving the environment and saving forest reserves.

All must cultivate the habit of planting trees to help restore the lost forests and water bodies to help safeguard the environment from the negative impacts of climate change.

The Minister expressed appreciation to the people for their continuous support and asked them to fully participate in the project to achieve its purpose.

Mr Samuel A. Jinapor, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, earlier in the year launched Green Ghana Day with a call on the citizenry to commit to planting and growing at least 10 million trees for a greener tomorrow for the survival of generations unborn.

He said the Government had been committed to an aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme, which had led to the cultivation of almost 721,000 hectares of forest between 2017 and 2023, under the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy.

Source: Gha
na News Agency

Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), a non-governmental organisation in climate and environmental sustainability, and Prudential Life Insurance Ghana have planted 2,000 mangrove seedlings at Ada Foah Obane Ramsar site in the Ada East District.

The initiative is to increase mangrove vegetation at the site to sustain biodiversity and protect the area against flooding and sea-level rise.

The exercise is in commemoration of this year’s national Green Ghana Day event.

Mr Chibeze Ezekiel, Executive Coordinator of SYND Ghana, said:

‘This Green Ghana Day, we decided to do something concrete and feasible that we can always track its progress. That is why we have involved the entire community together with our partners to plant the 2,000 mangrove seedlings.’

Mr Ezekiel said they chose to plant mangrove seedlings because it would be beneficial to the community by providing alternative livelihoods to the residents of the communities, especially those who engaged in fish farming.

He said the planting was
a pilot project and that it would be upscaled nationwide.

Mr Ezekiel said SYND had been engaging in other community climate and environmental support-projects to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

Mr Emmanuel Hammond, Head of Sustainability, Prudential Life Insurance Ghana, said they had a five-year plan for the planting and sustaining of mangroves in the area to improve the community’s resilience to environmental challenges.

‘The mangrove in this community is eroding. It is for this reason that we decided to support the Strategic Youth Network for Development and the Forestry Commission to restore the mangroves which are being depleted,’ he said.

He said it formed part of their purpose to be ‘partners of every life and protectors of every future’.

Mr Hammond said they had so far supported with 17,000 seedlings since the commencement of the Green Ghana project and was focused on areas where much attention was not given.

Mr Eric Tetteh Addo Wusah, Youth Committee Secretary at Obane, said the
y would be monitoring the plants to ensure their survival.

He called on other organisations and philanthropists to support the community to dredge parts of the wetlands, which served as a water channel to the Volta Lake.

According to the Forestry Commission, the current mangrove cover of Ghana is estimated at 72.4 km2 with over 18 million trees.

Recent studies indicate that there is a significant decline of the country’s mangrove forests due to factors such as urbanisation, overexploitation, pollution, wildfires, and climate change.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana’s poultry industry is back to life, Mr Osei Owusu Agyeman, Project Coordinator, Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) declared on Friday.

He said the industry was witnessing a massive revival towards building sustainable businesses in the value chain to bridge the country’s food deficit gap.

Mr Agyeman said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after some selected commercial poultry farmers in the Ashanti Region took delivery of about 130,000-day-old chicks to revamp the poultry sector.

The distribution is part of activities under the first phase of the Poultry Intensification Scheme under the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP).

The project, being implemented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, is to revamp the broiler industry in Ghana.

Other regions in line for day-old chicks deliveries under the scheme are the Bono, Eastern, Greater Accra, Central and Volta, to contribute to the MOFA-FSRP mission to revamp the poultry industry in Ghana.

The Poultry Intensifica
tion Scheme is being run in phases under World Bank funding, with each beneficiary receiving input credit in the form of about 160, 000 day-old chicks, 180,000 kilograms of feed, as well as supplies of vaccines, in the first round of allocations.

They will also be granted training in best modern practices and climate-smart technologies within the poultry industry.

The farmers will also have access to matching grants to procure equipment to support post-production processing and cold storage.

The scheme targets the production of approximately two million broiler birds on a yearly basis, under a $12.5 milliin World Bank facility.

Under the programme, some 22 commercial anchor farmers nationwide will be selected and supported to produce, process and market two million birds annually over the next three years.

The criteria for participation in the scheme demands that applicants must have been in poultry (broiler) production, processing and marketing within the last five years.

They must also be registered w
ith the Registrar General or other statutory body and must have linkages with small holder farmers.

The commercial farmers are among other things required to be in the databases of the District Directorate of Agric of their operational areas; must include at least 10 per cent women and 10 per cent youth in both upstream and downstream of the value chain; and must be compliant with requirements of regulatory bodies like the Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana Fire Service, the Food and Drugs Authority, Ghana Standards Authority and the World Bank.

The scheme will feed into the PFJ 2.0 targeted poultry self-sufficiency output of 400,000 metric tonnes per year by 2028.

Mr Agyeman said the project, anchored on three themes of sustainability, ownership and public/private engagement, ‘is and attempt to sustain the broiler value chain’.

He said local hatcheries would be revived and youth incubation programmes held to build and sustain businesses in the value chain.

Dr Abdul Razak Okine, a Deputy Director,
Animal Production Directorate, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said the project, which was in line with Government’s Planting for Food and Jobs 2.0, was exciting farmers nationwide.

‘It is attracting many young people and women and will hopefully help us close the food deficit gap…’

The West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) is a World Bank funded programme, championed by ECOWAS for participating countries.

It is to strengthen food system risk management, improve the sustainability of the agricultural productive base and harmonise agricultural markets in the West African sub region.

Participating countries include Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sierra Leone, Togo and Chad.

In Ghana, the project is focusing on the intensified production, marketing and consumption of wholesome Rice, Maize, Broiler Poultry, Tomatoes and Soyabeans for the poultry industry.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Pricewaterhouse Coopers Ghana (PwC) has planted over 150 seedlings at the Association Community Basic School in Labone as part of efforts to restore depleted vegetation and fight climate change.

The Company also educated students at the school on how to handle, plant and nature seedlings into trees, to imbibe in them the essence of tree planting.

The planting of trees forms part of PwC’s efforts to contribute to the government’s initiative of planting 10 million seedlings across the country.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mrs Clara Amarteyfio-Taylor, Partner, Inclusion and Diversity for PwC Ghana, said trees played a critical role in the survival of humanity as it absorbed the carbon dioxide and produced oxygen and, therefore, it was imperative to plant trees on school compounds, backyards, along roads and everywhere for sustainability of the environment.

She said there was the need for all Ghanaians to plant trees and nurture them until they matured for sustenance of the environmen
t and mitigation against the negative effects of climate change.

Mrs Amarteyfio-Taylor, who is also the Corporate Responsibility Lead, said sustainability of the environment was at the core of PwC activities, stressing that participating in the exercise was its contribution to a sustainable environment.

She noted that over the past few months, Ghana had experienced some hot temperatures which was due to climate change, indicating that planting trees was one way to fight the phenomenon.

Mrs Dorcas Asiamah, District Manager, Greater Accra Regional Forestry Office of the Forestry Commission, Achimota said this year’s Green Ghana Day was aimed at inculcating tree planting and preservation of the environment, especially in the youth for the future.

She said the Forestry Commission had mandated its members to help support and educate people on how to plant and nurture the trees for future use and climate protection.

She said the forestry commission had distributed over ten million seedlings across the country
to help support the fight against environmental degradation.

Mrs Asiamah said most people, especially the youth, did not know how to plant trees and nurture them hence it was important to encourage them cultivate the habit of tree planting.

She called on Ghanaians to nurture the trees planted to ensure their growth and sustainability.

Source: Ghana News Agency

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has described as a huge success Ghana’s record-making of planting 52 million trees in the last four years.

‘This is an incredible achievement,’ he remarked, noting that the development inured to the benefit of reversing the country’s lost forest cover.

Ghana has experienced a drastic decline in forest cover over the past decades, with the Global Forest Watch reporting in 2022 that the country lost some 18,000 hectares of natural forest.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, addressing a ceremony in Accra to mark the 2024 ‘Green Ghana Day’, said activities relating to agriculture, forests and land use contributed almost 50 per cent of the national greenhouse gas emissions.

Therefore, preserving the forests and adopting sustainable agricultural and land use practices had a high potential to combat climate change, he stated.

‘Growing for a Greener Tomorrow’, is the theme for this year’s celebration – an event meant to create enhanced national awareness on the necessity for collec
tive action towards the restoration of the country’s degraded landscape.

The Day is also commemorated to enhance livelihoods through engagement in the production of tree seedlings, inculcating in the youth the value of planting and nurturing trees and their associated benefits.

The President said beyond the environmental benefits, forests were essential natural resources for the country’s socio-economic development, providing livelihoods for the majority of the population.

For that reason, the Government was determined to work with the people in planting as many trees as possible in order to leave a greener and sustainable world for the future.

President Nana Akufo-Addo reminded the citizenry of their civic responsibilities as related to the restoration of the ecosystem.

The ‘Green Ghana Day’, he explained, presented an opportunity for the people to be environmentally responsive, and build a resilient ecosystem and healthy planet.

‘The world currently faces a triple threat of unprecedented proportions:
the converging crises of climate change, air pollution and biodiversity loss, which collectively pose a significant risk to the health and wellbeing of our planet.

‘Let us integrate sustainable practices into our daily lives,’ he advised, urging the people to be committed to embracing the tree-planting exercise, and also nurture the tree seedlings for their survival.

Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said the Green Ghana project was part of an aggressive national afforestation and reforestation programme to restore the lost forest cover of Ghana.

Generally, it envisages to build the country’s capacity to contribute to the global effort to mitigate climate change.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A Ghanaian human rights activist and journalist, Joseph Kobla Wemakor, has been invited to the Pan Africa Human Rights and Social Justice Conference by Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and countering terrorism.

Set to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 8 and 9, 2024, the event aims to foster dialogue and collaboration among key stakeholders in Africa to shape a human rights-oriented approach towards combating terrorism in the region.

The conference is focused on enhancing cooperation between African civil society organizations, governmental bodies, and regional entities and to influence the Special Rapporteur’s forthcoming report to the General Assembly in October 2024.

This report would underscore the role of regional and sub-regional bodies in safeguarding human rights while addressing terrorism-related challenges across the continent.

Mr Wemakor expressed enthusiasm for engaging human rights advocates and policymakers to champion the cause of human rights amidst counter-terrorism ef
forts in Africa.

His involvement in the G16 Regional Security Advocacy Group also bolstered his credentials as a dedicated humanitarian committed to advancing security processes in West Africa.

He and his colleagues will also participate in constructive discussions to shape regional strategies aligning with global human rights norms.

The conference stands as a beacon of hope for advocating sustainable solutions, heightened awareness, and enhanced regional cooperation in fighting terrorism while upholding human rights standards.

Through collaborative efforts and strategic engagement, Joseph Wemakor and his peers are poised to play a pivotal role in shaping a more just and rights-respecting future for Africa.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has called on all chiefs and people of Asanteman to actively get involved in the Green Ghana project, to help restore and conserve the degrading lands and forests in the region.

He said it was important for the chiefs in the various paramountcies to mobilise their people to plant more trees in their environment to complement the government’s afforestation project currently going on throughout the country.

Speaking after planting a tree at the Kumasi Royal Golf Park to commemorate this year’s green Ghana Day in Kumasi, Otumfuo Osei Tutu, stressed his commitment to support the government’s re-afforestation programme.

The Green Ghana project is part of the government’s aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme, to restore the country’s degraded landscapes.

The government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, would plant about 10 million seedlings of various tree species this year to boost the country’s flagship environmental initiative.

Otumf
uo Osei Tutu has been actively involved in the national tree planting exercise since its inception in 2021 and had been planting trees at the Royal Golf Club Park every year.

Mr. Benito Owusu Bio, National Committee Chairman of Green Ghana Project and Special Advisor to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, who accompanied the Asantehene, said from the Stone Age to date, human activities on the environment, both illegal and legal had caused destruction to the environment.

He said a total of 10 million tree seedlings of different species were expected to be planted across the country this year, to restore the environment.

This, he said would go a long way to reduce the impact of climate change and conserve the environment.

Mr Owusu Bio said tree planting was the best solution to the harmful effects of the recent extreme weather conditions and climate change.

He said more than 81 per cent of the trees planted in 2021 had survived and 72 per cent of those planted last year, had survived.

He appealed
to churches and schools to take up the exercise and contribute to the conservation of the environment.

Mr Owusu Bio, said the one-student, one-tree planting exercise had begun in schools, to inculcate environmental conservation practices in students and pupils.

He called on all Ghanaians to get on board to make the environment clean and green to save the next generation.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr. Nana Kweku Nduom, President, Groupe Nduom Ghana, has asked manufacturing firms to adopt biodegradable innovations to protect the environment.  

He said such innovations would produce eco-friendly products with less or no negative impact on the environment.

Plastics that decompose naturally into elements like carbon dioxide, water, and biomass are known as biodegradable plastics.

Unlike traditional plastics, which can take hundreds of years to break down in landfills and the ocean, biodegradable plastics are made to be more environmentally friendly.

 Dr Ndoum said this at an event to commemorate World Environment Day, which was observed at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel in Accra.

‘Around the world, people are looking at the impact of single-use plastics on our environment. Very soon, I am sure these biodegradable products will reach Ghana, and then we will ban plastics.

‘When you come to GN, we are researching what sort of sustainable packaging or what biodegradable products can replace the plasti
cs. We must ensure that the products we produce in the manufacturing process can be recycled. We all need to move to biodegradable products to save our environment,’ he said.

An estimated 2.58 million metric tons of raw plastic materials are imported annually. Out of these, over 73 per cent end up as waste products.

Reusable plastics make up 19 percent of all imported plastic materials in Ghana, although plastic recycling accounts for a negligible 0.1 percent.

Ghana’s average daily solid waste generation per person is 0.47 kilograms, which adds up to an estimated 12,710 tons per day for the entire population.

Plastic garbage entangles itself in the marine ecology, endangering and even killing certain marine animals. 

Dr. Nduom urged corporate organisations to take the lead in environmental initiatives and advocacy by implementing appropriate environmental and social governance policies, saying GN remained committed to integrating sustainable practices into every facet of its operations.

As part of effor
ts to promote sustainable practices, he said the Company had implemented several initiatives.

‘We have started gathering baseline data across the companies in the Group to determine the size of our impact on the environment. This will allow us to plan, execute, and monitor a comprehensive programme to reduce impact.

‘We have introduced indoor plants in a number of our offices to improve air quality and, by extension, the well-being of our staff, customers, and other stakeholders,’ he said.

The event featured several activities, including a tree planting session where officials and staff of subsidiary companies of the Group planted trees.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana’s gold production rose 8.3 per cent to 4 million ounces in 2023 compared to 3.7 million ounces the previous year, data from the Ghana Chamber of Mines showed.

The production growth was driven primarily by the expansion in the output of small-scale miners, which was sufficient to offset the decline in the large-scale sub-sectors’ output.

It is the country’s highest output since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gold production attributable to the large-scale sub-sector declined from 3.1 million ounces in 2022 to 2.9 million ounces in 2023, which translates into a downturn of 4.9 per cent.

Conversely, the comparable outturn for the small-

scale sub-sector grew by 70.6 per cent, from 0.66  million ounces to 1.1 million ounces in the corresponding period.

In 2024, gold output is forecast to reach between 4.3 and 4.5 million ounces in 2024.

New projects like Newmont’s Ahafo North and Cardinal Resource’s Namdini Gold Mine will contribute to this growth. 

Manganese production is expected to incre
ase to 5 million tonnes, bauxite to between 1.2 million and 1.5 million tonnes, and diamond exports to about 220,000 to 250,000 carats.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Eric Nyarko-Sampson, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), has outlined scientifically informed approaches to land restoration, which involve practices to rehabilitate degraded lands and restore their ecological functionality.

‘In combating desertification – a severe form of land degradation, and enhancing drought resilience, innovative strategies and technologies cannot be left out,’ he said.

The scientific principles and practices that underpinned land restoration are ecological restoration, soil health and management, water management, and agroforestry and sustainable agriculture.

Professor Nyarko-Sampson, speaking at the 2024 World Environment Day at Somanya in the Eastern Region on Wednesday, emphasized the need to re-establish native vegetation and ecosystems as well as enhance biodiversity to create resilient ecosystems.

On agroforestry and sustainable agriculture, he recommended the integration of trees and shrubs into agricultural syst
ems to enhance productivity and biodiversity.

He said the UESD had developed a Master of Science and Master of Philosophy programmes in Environmental Restoration Studies, which were receiving attention from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).

He described the programme as multidisciplinary, aimed at contributing to addressing land restoration and aquatic ecosystem restoration issues, among others.

This year’s World Environment Day is on the theme: ‘Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience.’

It was organised by the University of Environment and Sustainable Development and The Church of Pentecost.

The United Nations Environment Programme annually observes the Day on June 5 to raise awareness on pressing environmental problems and encouraging global actions.

Apostle Samuel Gyau Obuobi, the General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, said the collaboration showed the critical need for concerted efforts to build capacity and develop innovative solutions for addressing the prese
nt land, water, and air quality deterioration in societies.

‘The church’s ongoing involvement ensures that tree planting and environment care are not one-time events but part of a sustained effort to protect and restore the environment,’ he said.

Elder Dr Joseph Siaw Agyapong, the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies, said environmental issues endangered livelihoods of many Ghanaians as it reduced arable land decreased crop yields, contributing to food insecurity and poverty.

‘Restoring degraded lands not only revives ecosystems but also provides essential services that support life on earth.’

The selebration was interlaced with a dialogue session and a quiz on environment issues organised by the Sustainable Development Alliance for three schools.

They were the Somanya Technical Institute, Akuse Methodist Senior High School, and Somanya Secondary and Technical School.

Participants planted about 200 trees on the UESD Campus to commemorate the Day.

Source: Ghana News Agency