The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) says it is heavily focused on intensifying education on environmental governance, with the green agenda being the biggest item.

The Chairperson of the NCCE, Kathleen Addy, said the move by the Commission would not just be on tree planting but all other aspects of environmental governance such as waste management and greenery.

“The education will be going on systematically, getting people to understand the reason why we need to have a green environment, and the reason why we have to be deliberate in the tree planting efforts,”she said.

She made this known when the NCCE joined in marking the Green Ghana Day by planting trees at the Accra Girls Senior High School and Achimota School in Accra on June 7, 2024.

Among the trees planted included pear, mango, royal palm, coconut, acacia and mahogany.

About 40 trees were planted in the two schools but over 120 were targeted to be planted by the schools.

Campaign in schools

Ms Addy explained that the Commission teamed up with the NCCE Civic Education Clubs (CEC) in schools across the country to undertake the tree planting exercise.

She took the opportunity to educate the students on the importance of planting trees and having a green environment, particularly in urban areas.

“Without a deliberate effort to ensure that we keep a green environment we will be doing ourselves a great disservice,”she said.

She indicated that climate change was a real phenomenon across the world caused by activities such as deforestation.

“Thankfully there is now a consciousness and a deliberate effort on the side of citizens across the world to ensure that we reverse the trend of climate change,” she stated.

Tree planting monitoring

The NCCE Chairperson said some trees planted at Dzita in the Volta Region last year by the Commission were growing well, stating that it was a result of keeping close contact with people who looked after them.

She urged the public, including corporate organisations and groups who took part in the tree-planting exercise, to do the same.

She also charged the students to nurture the trees planted, saying that they were stewards and must, therefore, keep the trees alive.

“The tree planting exercise is not just a ceremony, it requires day-to-day care to ensure that the trees survive. We must, therefore, take it extremely seriously,” she said.

She also urged the students to venture into the environment industry, waste management and greening areas as more people were needed in such fields.

Commitment

The Head of Programmes for Science at the Accra Girls Senior High School, John Mensah, expressed commitment to planting more trees and nurturing them.

“We have about 100 seedlings to plant, so far twenty have been planted today, where each seedling will be assigned to an NCCE CEC member to do the watering and monitoring,”he said.

He also indicated that about 90 per cent of the 120 seedlings planted during last year’s exercise were surviving.

“We have about a 90-per cent success story in our tree planting efforts so we know that this year will continue the same,” he said.

The Executives of the NCCE CECs in the schools expressed their commitment to nurture and monitor the growth of the seedlings planted.