As part of the national tree planting exercise and to green the country, waste management company, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, has partnered the Forestry Commission to plant over 600,000 trees in the Greater Accra Region.
The exercise, which is being replicated in the remaining 15 regions of the country, kicked off on Friday, June 11, 2021, with Zoomlion workers planting trees in front of the Army Headquarters Amenity Centre Mess opposite the Jubilee House, the seat of government.
The Zoomlion General Manager, Greater Accra Region, Mr Ernest Morgan Acquah, who made this disclosure while speaking to journalists, said his outfit considered the exercise crucial in preserving the country’s forest cover.
This was under the government’s Green Ghana Project, which President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced in his 2021 State of the Nation Address in March, aimed at rallying Ghanaians for an aggressive nationwide tree planting exercise.
The Greater Accra Zoomlion GM said his outfit was not only involved in tree planting, but also providing the Forestry Commission with vehicles to transport the seedlings of the plants and assisting them with workforce as well.
“We are also helping them [Forestry Commission] with the logistics they need such as watering cans, shovels, pick axes among others,” he further disclosed.
On ensuring that after planting the tree seedlings they are nurtured to maturity, he said Zoomlion had in place a strategy.
“Yes, there is a strategy. And it is not just about planting the 600,000 tree seedlings and we will leave them, because when we plant them and we don’t see to them they will all die.
“…so there is a strategy as to how to maintain them, the days that we would have to water them, and we will keep them till the period they become trees before we leave them,” he said.
Furthermore, he said there was an agency that will see to the nurturing of the planted tree seedlings.
“…and we are also working in collaboration with the Parks and Gardens. They are constantly on the ground seeing to the greening and beautification of the country,” he noted.
Mr Morgan Acquah said his outfit’s partnership with Parks and Gardens will also pave way for them to provide them with workforce to ensure that the tree planting initiative becomes a success story.
He, therefore, used the opportunity to encourage Ghanaians to embrace the tree planting initiative and become active participants.
“We want every Ghanaian to know that it is important to plant trees. So even if the tree planting time elapses, when you get a tree and a space plant it,” he encouraged.
This, he emphasised, will go a long way to “help us as a country.”
The Acting Director of Parks and Gardens, Reverend Charles Nii Ayitey Okine, who participated in the exercise, commended the government for the initiative, adding that it will have a positive impact on the health of the citizenry.
He said while it was good to plant trees, the initiative must not end there.
“I have laid emphasis on the acronym PNS—Planting (P) is one stage, Nurturing (N) is another stage and Sustainability (S) is also another stage. So we have the PNS,” he said.
According to him, the PNS should be a guiding principle for the successful implementation of the exercise.
He commended Ghanaians for their high enthusiasm in the exercise, but stressed that it was a continuous process and must not just end at the first stage—planting of the tree seedlings.
“We have to nurture it, what type of soil we have to give it, the type of manure and how we can take care of it,” he added.
Rev Ayitey Okine pointed out that there were certain areas where the planted tree seedlings needed to be protected by either caging or fencing them.
He said this was necessary because of the radical nature of certain areas.
“If we are not very careful about it and we miss that point, we will realise that our efforts will be futile, he advised.
To this end, he encouraged corporate Ghana to come on board and support his outfit in the successful implementation of the Green Ghana Project.
From the Army Headquarters Amenity Centre Mess, the Zoomlion team moved to the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout where they undertake same operation.
