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We need to consciously plant trees to regain our past status- Regional Minister

The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih has admonished people in the five regions of the North to take tree planting seriously to avert desertification.

The regional Minister led the “Green Ghana” tree planting exercise in the region to plant an expected number of 150,000 trees across the 11 administrative districts.

Addressing heads of departments, staff of forestry commission, media and other category of workers, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih underscored the need for the exercise as it protects the vegetative cover.

Amidst a heavy downpour, the Minister Kick started the tree planting exercise in the Upper West Regional Capital at the Wa town plantation called “forest”.

“As humans, we need to put in efforts, particularly those of us in the five regions of the north, who are threatened by the desertification so we need to consciously plant trees to regain our past status,” the minister noted.

The government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, had initiated the “Green Ghana” project aimed at planting five million trees on Friday, June 11, 2021, as part of efforts by the government to reclaim the lost vegetative cover of the country.

Dr Hafiz Bin Salih said the forest cover of the country was about 8.8 million hectares in the 1990s but had reduced to about 1.5 million hectares currently, and warned that if pragmatic measures were not taken to reverse the situation, the entire forest cover of the country would be depleted.

The Regional Minister said 11th June would henceforth be christened “Green Ghana” day and shall be observed annually.

“I want to urge all of us, the issue is not about planting trees but also nurturing them to survive. So, I am going to take note of where I am going to plant this tree and occasionally I will come to see whether the tree is surviving or not,” Dr Salih said.

He therefore encouraged all to do the same to ensure the exercise yielded the expected results, and to plant trees regularly saying “when the last tree dies, the last man will die”.

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