Ministry to embark on massive tree-planting exercise

THE Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has announced plans to embark on a massive national tree- planting exercise to halt the depletion of the country’s forest plantation and reserves.
The sector Minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda, who made this known, said the ministry was currently in contact with other stakeholders to tackle the problem.
He described the extent of degradation of the country’s forests as appalling and stressed the need for such an exercise to protect natural resources.
Alhaji Dauda, who made the point during a courtesy call on him by the Bulgarian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Nedelcho Peneff, said Ghana once had 8.2 million hectares of forest but now it had reduced to about 1.5 million hectares.
“You realise that the extent of degradation is as a result of our own activities and so we have decided that what has been lost must be replaced,” he stated.
He, therefore, asked for support from Bulgaria to deal with the situation which, he said, was badly affecting the pattern of rainfall in the country.
Ghana recently ratified the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which requires it to strictly adhere to its own laws. The VPA is a set of standards and guidelines intended for proper forest governance and timber harvest, with the view to ensuring that only legal timber was exported from Ghana to Europe.
Alhaji Dauda said Ghana was currently faced with the challenge of adding value to its mineral resources and, therefore, requested the Bulgarian Ambassador to assist the country to attract investors who were willing to set up refineries in the country.
The courtesy call by the Bulgarian Ambassador was essentially to congratulate the minister on his appointment to that political office and to discuss possible areas of co-operation.
Mr Peneff commended Ghana for its democratic maturity, saying, “Ghana has demonstrated to the world that the culture of democracy is of high standard and should serve as an example to the continent and the rest of the world.”
He recalled the long-standing relations between Ghana and Bulgaria, dating back to 1962 when Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, visited that country.
He expressed the hope that the relations would be reactivated, and on that basis extended an invitation to Alhaji Dauda to visit Bulgaria and identify possible areas of co-operation between the two countries.
“We do not need to just exchange documents but take concrete steps that will benefit both countries,” he stated.
Mr Peneff expressed his willingness to help attract investors from Bulgaria to set up refineries in Ghana and urged the minister to furnish him with documents on the country’s total stock of minerals and natural resources for reference.