The Institute of Nature and Environmental Conservation (INEC) Ghana, has planted about 5,000 native tree species in the Mankrang Forest Reserve as part of activities to mark the Green Ghana Day.

The Mankrang Forest Reserve, located within the Offinso Forest District and shares boundary with Bono Region, has parts of the reserve going under considerable levels of degradation which needed urgent restoration attention.

The INEC-Ghana with support from its funders, Fondation Franklinia and TerraFund for AFR100 are restoring the reserve.

They are currently working on 240 hectares of land.

Mr. David Kwarteng, Executive Director, INEC-Ghana, speaking to the media after the tree planting exercise, said the native species planted to mark the Day included Mahogany, Rosewood, Ceiba pentandra (onyina), Mansonia, Pericopsis elata (African teak), Oframo among others.

Community members including school children as well as students from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) participated in the exercise. Mr. Kwarteng indicated that the overall survival rate of trees planted in the last two years to mark the Green Ghana Day had been amazing.

According to him, the Institute had recorded about 70 percent success rate of the more than 8,000 trees planted in the Asenanyo Forest Reserve and Afram Headwaters Reserve.

The success had been greatly hinged on the onsite management which ensured all the necessary silvicultural activities, including weeding, maintenance, pest management and control as well as survival rate monitoring assessment.

Mr. Kwarteng also indicated that INEC-Ghana had adapted drip irrigation, especially in the dry season to help the trees flourish, adding that most of the restoration sites were within the semi-deciduous forest ecozones.

Mr. Samuel Ofori, Project Manager, TerraFund for AFR100, encouraged the students to avail themselves of Ghana’s efforts in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

He observed that, “if we do not make the impact as a people now, the climate change will have dire consequences on our lives in the next 50 years”, and explained that these tree planting exercises if taken seriously would have positive environmental impacts.