The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has reached an agreement with King Charles III for a reclamation exercise on Ghana’s degraded lands and forest reserves. 

Technical teams on environment in the United Kingdom and Ghana are expected to hold a series of meetings on ways to restore lands ravaged by illegal mining. 

The joint effort would see the formulation of policies on ways to reclaim the lands. 

The Asantehene revealed that his private engagements with King Charles III during the latter’s coronation in the United Kingdom resulted in the collaboration between the two kings to plant trees to reduce carbon missions.  

Otumfuo emphasized on the essentiality of conserving the country’s forest reserves and curbing land degradation.  

He spoke at the launch of the Green Ghana Day held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. 

“Trees contribute significantly to environmental protection, climate change mitigation and improve livelihoods for members of fringe communities. They are also home to millions of wildlife that contribute to the sustainability of the earth,” he said.   

King Charles III is renowned for his commitment to protecting the environment and streamlining activities to mitigate climate change. 

Before the government’s agenda to plant trees in a bid to restore Ghana’s endangered lands and forest reserves, the Asantehene has committed to planting trees within the Ashanti region. 

According to him, 2.5 million trees were planted on a 4,000 hectare land in 2019 towards the protection of the Lake Bosomtwe.  

Reiterating his commitment to tree planting and knowing the importance of trees, the overlord of Asante kingdom indicated that he has a teak plantation of about 640 acres in Kumawu. 

“I am collaborating with the Forestry Commission to plant more trees in various compartments I have in the region,” he said.  

The Ashanti region, despite planting over 7 million trees - highest of all regions - since the inception of the Green Ghana Day - is heavily riddled with illegal small-scale mining.  

The Nkawie Forestry district in the Ashanti region is reported to have planted the highest number of seedlings on the 2022 edition of Green Ghana Day.  

Addressing the launch of the third edition of the Green Ghana Day, Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey indicated that 81% and 72% of trees planted in 2021 and 2022 respectively survived.   

He says more local trees were planted during the last edition.  

“One unique feature of the 2022 edition of Green Ghana was that 35% of the seedlings were planted in Ghana’s forest reserves. A deliberate effort was made to plant more indigenous species. This help increase the percentage of economic timber species planted over the two years to 75%,” he said.