The Upper East Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Lare Kitonname has charged members especially those in the region to see the Green Ghana initiative as a stepping stone to regaining the forest’s lost cover.
According to him, desertification is a threat to human lives and for the region to become desertification free, it behoves them to plant a tree each that day (June 10th).
The government of Ghana through the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources set aside June 10 each year to plant as many trees as Ghanaians can to improve the lost forest’s cover. Last year the target was 5 million trees and this year, the target has increased to 20 million trees across the country. The Upper East Region is expected to plant 650,000 trees as compared to 170,000 planted last year.
Given that, the Secretary believed collaborative effort by all and sundry ought to help achieve the given target in the region.
“We all know that when the last tree dies, the last man will also die yet we are seeing tree planting as an individual responsibility. So, I’m calling on all the 13,069 members to plant at least a tree on that day. If we all are to do that like I’m doing today at the office, you can imagine the difference we will make for the environment. So, I’m encouraging every GNAT member to do that”, he encouraged.
Mr Kitonname made the call at the GNAT Regional office when Forestry Commission Ladies paid a tree planting visit to his outfit. The ceremonial tree planting visit was to call to action teachers and other relevant stakeholders ahead of the Green Ghana initiative.
The Upper East Regional Forestry Manager of the Forestry Commission, Emmanuel Yeboah who was excited by the bold call by the Secretary, also assured all and sundry that the region has enough seedlings ready for the event hence interested persons can come for them.
He however called on traditional leaders, NGOs and relevant bodies to join the green Ghana campaign to help in greening their surroundings.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Moses Apiah|Bolgatanga|Ghana
