We love trees not just because of their aesthetic beauty but for the many additional benefits they provide to our environment, humanity, and the entire planet.

In addition to offering much needed shade on a sunny day, the presence of trees gives those who are a lover of nature a comforting feeling. Don’t you just feel more relaxed after a walk in a garden or park full of trees like Ghana’s Legon Botanical gardens?

While we enjoy the beauty of trees, their value is greater because their existence is vital for our survival. Trees contribute to our environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, conserving water, preserving soil, restoring lost trees, among a host of other key benefits.

Every year on June 5, the countries across the globe come together to celebrate World Environmental Day. This is a day set aside to raise awareness and generate action on pressing environmental issues. The celebration offers an opportunity to reflect on accomplishments and renew resolutions in overcoming the environmental challenges facing the world today.

This year, the theme was “Only one Earth”- focusing on living sustainably with nature. A call on everyone to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

There are so many simple but impactful ways to practice a sustainable lifestyle including taking your own bags for shopping, using your own bowl to get your favourite waakye or kenkey, avoiding plastics, turning off the lights when you leave your room, recycling as much as you can among others.

This year, we are being made aware that we only have one planet and must take all the actions necessary to protect, preserve and save it.

Tree planting is an exciting and easy activity that people can take part in, either individually or as a group, to better the planet. It is admirable to see that June 10 has been declared Green Ghana Day in 2022 with the aim of planting 20 million trees across the country to restore lost forest which contributes to the global efforts to fight climate change.

A recent analysis by Oxfam found that the world “would require at least 1.6bn hectares of new forests, equivalent to five times the size of India or more than all the farmland on the planet” so we can help to accelerate the achievement of net zero by 2050.

Such a herculean but doable task, right?

It will take all of us participating in tree-planting and reforestation projects and I am optimistic that environmental champions, individuals, corporate bodies, youth groups, and schools will embrace the initiative to partake in Green Ghana Day.

We can all contribute to a greener future for ourselves and generations to come by taking the action to plant a tree so we can enjoy all the benefits trees provide.

That is why you need to plant a tree today!

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Linda Ama Segbefia is a PR and Communications Practitioner at Ogilvy Africa