Benito Owusu-Bio, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, responsible for Lands and Forestry
The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, responsible for Lands and Forestry, Benito Owusu-Bio, yesterday disclosed that over 72 per cent of the tree seedlings planted last year as part of the Green Ghana project have survived, and are flourishing.
The statistics, he indicated, is derived from a report submitted to the Lands Ministry by the Forestry Commission detailing the verification assessment of trees planted during the years under review.
The Deputy Minister made the disclosure when he took a tour of the Greater Accra Region, to monitor seedlings planted by associations, institutions, the Ministry and the Forestry Commission in 2022.
Mr Owusu-Bio assured Ghanaians that all money invested into procuring Green Ghana seedlings had been judiciously utilized, as most of the seedlings planted during the 2021- 2022 Green Ghana Day planting exercises are surviving.
“The report was put together by all district offices within the country, and even before that, we had reports from the National Security. I’m overwhelmed… The survival survey revealed that the seedlings distributed under the 2021 and 2022 Editions Green Day were duly planted on both forest reserves and off reserve site across the country,” he indicated.
Success
Mr Owusu-Bio, who doubles as the Chairman of the Green Ghana, described the 2022 Green Ghana exercise as “highly successful”, revealing that this year’s launch will officially be done in May.
“Earlier, we disclosed a survival rate of 80%. However, due to weather conditions and other factors, we’ve recorded 72% this year. The findings show that for 2021, as at now, we have 65 percent and 67 percent of the planted seedlings surviving in on reserve and off reserve sites respectively. So for, 2021, what it means is that, we have 65% in the forest reserves and then for 2020, we had 67%. With respect to 2022, both on and off reserved sites recorded a survival rate of 72%,” he stated.
The Deputy Minister, therefore, maintained that it is positive progress because no matter what, “we will not be able to achieve 100% survival”
“It is important that these seedling assessment is done for about three years because the rate of survival is a bit low until they go beyond the third year cycle to, at least, have their roots matured enough for them to withstand the vagaries of the weather,” he noted.
Clarification
The Deputy Minister also refuted claims circulating in the media space about government’s unpaid debt of GH₵2.3billion to Green Ghana seedling providers after the planting exercises.
He categorically stated that “there is no such thing as GH₵2.3billion; even the funds allocated by government for Green Ghana was not that much. What we actually owe our seedlings providers is an amount of GH₵28million cedis which will soon be cleared”.
He assured the seedlings providers that plans were already underway with the Finance Ministry to settle all Green Ghana debts owed, assuring that he would personally ensure that these conversations are fast tacked.
He was impressed with how well the seedlings had grown so far, applauding the Forestry Commission for ensuring that Foresters nurtured the Green Ghana seedlings to maturity.
The Deputy Minister urged all Ghanaians who planted some of the seedlings in their homes and farms to ensure they make it an effort in nurturing the seedlings to maturity. He also called on all and sundry to join efforts to plant the 10,000 seedlings scheduled to be planted this year.
The team on the monitoring tour first visited the Seismic Centre at the Ghana Geological Survey. They also visited three planting sites at Legon campus, the Achimota Forest, Achimota Secondary School and the J.J Rawlings Foundation guardianship inside the Achimota School.
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