The Tree for Life programme, targeted at restoring over seven million hectares of degraded land across the country, took off last Thursday with President John Dramani Mahama rallying all citizens to plant at least one tree within the month.

The President planted a commemorative tree at the Kwabenya Community Senior High School in Accra to mark the commencement of the month-long exercise, with a target to plant 30 million trees.

Key stakeholders such as government officials, traditional rulers, members of the diplomatic corpss and development partners gathered to lend their support to the national exercise.

“I entreat everyone in Ghana to actively participate in this important national task for the benefit of current and future generations,” President Mahama declared, urging all citizens to unite and save the environment.

One Child, One Tree    

The commemorative tree-planting event, which coincided with the World Environment Day (WED), was used to launch the One Child, One Tree initiative, an intervention under the Tree for Life programme designed for students to actively participate in revegetating the country's degraded landscape.

Present at the event were the ministers of Land and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah; Environment, Science, and Technology (MEST), Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed; Education, Haruna Iddrisu; and Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie.

The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Forestry Commission, Dr Hugh Brown; Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Prof. Nana Ama Brown Klutse respectively; as well as some Members of Parliament (MPs), members of the diplomatic corps, and development partners also participated in the event.

The President explained that the “One Child, One Tree” initiative was part of the larger Tree for Life Programme, which sought to empower every child in Ghana to plant and nurture a tree.

He said under the initiative, each student would receive a seedling of a native species suited to the various ecological zones, and plant it on school grounds or in their community.

Transformative initiative

For his part, Mr Iddrisu said the One Child, One Tree initiative was a transformative step towards instilling environmental consciousness in children at an early age.

He said the Ministry of Education would work closely with MEST, Land and Natural Resources, Forestry Commission, and other stakeholders to ensure the distribution of seedlings to all schools across the country for planting.

Again, he said the Ghana Education Service (GES) would implement a new instruction module that focused on instilling environmental consciousness in schoolchildren.

Modalities for planting

Dr Brown explained that the trees would be planted in urban centres, rural communities, school compounds, farmlands, riverbanks and on degraded forest reserves.

He said the tree-planting activities had been categorised into components, with the amenity planting by the public to be undertaken from June 5 to June 30.

Aside from the planting by the public, he said there would be the establishment of 10,000 hectares of forest plantation under the Modified Taungya System (MTS) through collaboration between Forestry Commission and local communities.

Again, he said there would be direct planting of 2,000 hectares by the Youth Forest Champions recruited under the Tree for Life Reforestation initiative while tree seedlings would also be distributed to farmers for planting within farms.

Additionally, he said 500 hectares of mine-out lands had been earmarked for reclamation as part of this year’s exercise, which would also see enrichment planting within degraded forest reserves.

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, urged members of the public to actively engage in efforts aimed at addressing the menace of plastic pollution.

She underscored the need for every Ghanaian to get involved in the Tree for Life initiative to help revegetate the environment.