The government of Ghana will sustain its efforts to mitigate climate change through continued tree planting and nurturing under the annual Tree for Life Reforestation Initiative, Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has said.
Buah made the remarks on Friday at the commencement of Ghana’s 2026 Tree for Life Reforestation Initiative, saying this year’s activity would not only focus on tree planting, but also on post-planting care for the tree seedlings.
“For this reason, the 2026 edition of the tree planting program will place a strong emphasis on post-planting care, monitoring, and maintenance,” Buah stressed.
The launch coincided with World Environment Day, observed annually on June 5 as the United Nations’ foremost platform for environmental awareness and action, and the minister highlighted the unprecedented environmental challenges around the globe.
He said rising temperatures, extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, pollution, and land degradation are threatening the well-being of humanity and ecosystems worldwide.
Buah said, “Across Ghana, we are witnessing the effects of climate change through rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, flooding, coastal erosion, declining forest cover, and the degradation of critical ecosystems. These impacts threaten food security, water resources, public health, livelihoods, and economic growth.”
The minister reiterated Ghana’s enduring commitment to environmental sustainability, climate resilience, and the sustainable management of the country’s forest and wildlife resources, with the initiative standing as one of the flagship interventions by the government.
The initiative was launched by Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama in June last year as a flagship national program to restore degraded lands, increase forest cover, and strengthen Ghana’s response to climate change.
Following the success of the program last year, the minister said, the target for 2026 is to plant and nurture at least 30 million tree seedlings of various varieties across the country, the minister added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
