Minister says over 67 million seedlings planted in afforestation programmes
A total of 67.4 million seedlings were procured by the Forestry Commission for planting in degraded forests in Ghana between 2017 and the third quarter of 2021.
Mr Samuel Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources told Parliament, in Accra, that the seedlings were planted under two major government programmes -the Modified Taugya System and the Youth in Afforestation/Reforestation Programme.
Mr Jinapor’s gave the data on the seedlings, as he responded to a question by Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Majority Chief Whip, on how many seedlings the Ministry procured and planted in the afforestation programme.
Mr Jinapor gave the annual breakdown of seedlings procured over the period as follows; 2017 – 7,138,553, 2018 – 17,869,408, 2019 – 19,486,537, 2020 – 13,405,710 and 2021 at 3rd quarter – 9,476,176.
He added that the Forestry Commission procured 4,897,247 seedlings out of 7,193,424 seedlings distributed for planting during the maiden edition of the Green Ghana Day, on June 11, 2021.
Mr Jinapor also indicated that the Akufo-Addo led Government, since 2017, has embarked on an aggressive afforestation programme to restore the lost forest cover.
He said as a result, between 2017 and the end of the third quarter of 2021, a total of 477,486 hectares of forest have been cultivated under the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy, through various programmes undertaken by government, the private sector, and Civil Society Organisations.
The Minister disclosed that President Nana Akufo-Addo on 1st March 2022 official launched the 2022 edition of the Green Ghana Day slated for June 10, 2022.
He said the government pledged to plant at least 20 million trees on degraded forest lands, both on and off reserves during the 2022 Green Ghana Day.
“May I, Mr Speaker, take this opportunity to respectfully, call on you, and the House to support us on the Green Ghana Day, to build a Greener Future for our country,” he added.
Source: GNA