Project Greening Northern Ghana Launched in Bolgatanga

Regional News from Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Source: ghanaiantimes.com.gh

2019-03-19

An environmental project called "Greening Northern Ghana (GNG) Project" was launched in Bolgatanga, in the Upper East region, to complement the government's efforts to combat desertification in the five northern regions of the country.

The northern, northeastern, northwestern, western and savanna regions are facing environmental degradation and desertification due to induced human activities, including charcoal production, hunting and honey harvesting.

In launching the project here last Saturday, Regional Minister Paulina Patience Abayage said the project would work in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Forestry Commission to plant trees and grbades in the communities of the beneficiary regions.

She said bush burning was one of the main environmental problems in the region and urged traditional authorities to punish the perpetrators of such acts in order to deter others.

Ms. Abayage said the government, through the EPA, is already implementing the "Sustainable Land and Water Resources Management Project" in the five regions, with funding from the World Bank.

The Regional Director of the Forestry Commission, Emmanuel Yeboah, who read a speech on behalf of Commission President Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, said that trees play a major role in the survival of the forest. humanity.

He cited the fact that, aside from shading trees, carbon sequestration, erosion prevention and the protection of water bodies, the 20,000 liters of oxygen needed per day for adults to survive were produced by trees.

"Forty percent of the drugs produced in the country are also derived from plants, in addition to the fact that trees also moderate rainfall patterns in the country. Given the important role that trees play in the life of humanity, it is important that each actor gets involved in tree planting, "said the CEO.

GNG National President Alhaji Abdallah Otito Achuliwor said basket weavers in the region lacked straw for weaving, forcing some of them to travel to the south to buy materials. first.

He expressed the hope that the growth of grbades would meet the challenge of allowing weavers of baskets to maximize their profits, adding that the GNG project was a registered voluntary NGO operating in the five regions.

The GNG National Project Coordinator, Mr. Charles Mambuliya, noted that

some water mbades in the five regions were drying up, which motivated the launch of the project.

EPA Regional Director, Dr. Asher Nkegbe, said his team, in collaboration with the Forest Service Commission, would provide six million seedlings to the NGO for the upcoming rainy season, in addition to from a technical support.