CLAP Gh has lauded the initiative of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to plant five million trees in a single day to make Ghana green.

The initiative encourages Ghanaians to plant more trees to preserve and protect the country’s forest cover and the environment in general.

CLAP Gh is proud to participate in the exercise as part of its commitments to Climate Action. The group mobilised some students and young people to plan trees at the Christian Advantage Preparatory School at Kentinkrono in Kumasi.

Trees are used to restore land and absorb climate-warming carbon out of the atmosphere, which could keep global warming below 1.5 degrees which the Paris Agreement says is needed to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change.

But is it enough to plant trees?

There have been a good number of tree planting initiatives, both at the public and corporate levels. But it often becomes difficult to know how these trees are faring and how impactful they have been to people and the environment.

CLAP Gh is therefore calling on the Ministry to ensure trees planted are tracked to appreciate their growth, storage of carbon and the benefits they provide to people and the environment – including food, economic and biodiversity.

Ghana must invest in tree tracking to help governments, companies, and NGOs to understand progress on their environmental pledges.

This will also encourage people to replicate successful projects and tweak struggling ones.