The Founder and Coordinator of Eco-conscious Citizens, Awula Serwah has decried how trees planted under the Green Ghana project were nurtured and left unprotected left at the mercy of goats to “munch”.
According to myjoyonline.com, she said this development affected the objective of the Green Ghana initiative which is part of an aggressive national afforestation/reforestation programme to restore the lost forest cover of Ghana and to contribute to the global effort to mitigate climate change.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ The Probe on Sunday, Madam Serwah explained that, “a week after the trees were planted, there were reports that goats were munching on some of the trees because they hadn’t been protected.”
Awula Serwah said although 20 million trees may have been supplied, proper monitoring of the trees will tell us if they can grow to maturity.
She advised the government to abandon the decision to allow mining of bauxite in the Atiwa forest reserve.
This, she noted, is because of the effects the mining will have on the environment.
“We have been told that not only will it contaminate the source of water for about 5 million Ghanaians, but will also destroy the ecosystem and kill endangered plants and animal species.”
She went on to say that, if the country is serious about forest preservation, then the Achimota Forest reserve will not be declassified.
“There is no point in planting 20 million trees and destroying the existing ones we have,” Madam Serwah stressed.