The Bono Regional office of the Forestry Commission has instituted an inspection team to monitor and ensure that trees that have been planted under the Green Ghana Project were being nurtured to maturity.

The inspection team is expected to visit every location where the Green Ghana trees were planted on June 11, 2021, across the region.

About 269,303 different species comprising Mahogany, Odum, Wawa, Oframo, Acacia, Cedrella as well as other economic trees such as mango, cashew and coconut were planted across the region.

Speaking during a visit by the inspection team to Berekum, the Sunyani District Forestry Manager of the Commission, Francis Brobbey, stated that the government has prioritised and is working hard to ensure that the dwindling forest reserves are restored.

He said about 10,000 trees including Mahogany, Cedrella, Offramo, Teak and Acacia were planted at the Berekum office of the Ghana Water Company Limited under the project.

Mr Brobbey advised Ghanaians to own and maintain the trees to thrive, adding “it is not worth it to spend money, effort, and time to plant all these trees and not help them to grow, so our inspection team will visit all the sites on regular basis to ensure the trees were being cared for”.

A Forest Range Manager at the Tain II Forest Reserve in the Berekum Municipality, Osman Sulley, advised farmers to prepare fire belts around their farms to prevent outbreak of fires.

He urged environmental Non-Governmental Oganisations to develop programmes that will promote the restoration of natural forests and increase productivity of agricultural land in order to improve the livelihood of the communities.

The Government of Ghana initiated the Green Ghana Project in June this year to inculcate the habit of tree planting into Ghanaians, restore the country’s forest cover and promote environmental sustainability.