Thoughts From The Green Ghana Day Celebration

In my opinion, this year’s Green Ghana Day has been part of the national events that have recently received much attention and approbation from the public. I noticed that, as early as April this year, there were talks about the event on the airwaves. Gladly, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, started creating awareness when he organized a media briefing event which was reported by the Ghana News Agency on April 27, 2023. Additionally, it is highly commendable that the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, took an active part in promoting the event, when he launched the Green Ghana Day project in May, in Kumasi. It was very heartwarming when the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin and the august house, suspended sitting to enable the Members of Parliament to join their “constituents to plant trees in the towns, communities, and villages in their constituencies.” (www.parliament.gh).

Our President led the entire nation into the exercise, as described by Donald A. Dapatem of the Daily Graphic as follows: “President Akufo-Addo planted the seedling of Velvet Tamarind known locally as ‘Yooyi” by the Gas and ‘Asaamba” by Fantes, at the event which was on the theme “Mobilizing for a Greener Future”, and targeted at planting 10 million trees nationwide.” Also, the Graphic online report adds that this year’s “event brings to 43 million the number of trees that have been planted since the initiative was first held on June 11, 2021.” Again, “a post-planting monitoring survey” puts the average tree survival rate at 71 percent, or 23 million trees planted during the previous two editions (Dapatem, 2023). Furthermore, “seven million trees were planted in the first edition, while 26 million trees were planted last year.” (Dapatem, 2023).

The University of Ghana hosted the ceremony, which was held on Friday, June 9, 2023, under the broad theme “Our Forests, Our Health.” (https://www.ug.edu.gh/) In addition to the active participation of the University of Ghana, “The Development and Environmental Studies Department of Wisconsin International University College, Ghana, joined in the campaign to promote environmental conservation and sustainability in Ghana at this year’s Green Ghana Day celebration.” (https://wiuc-ghana.edu.gh/). Also, “The GCTU community marked the annual Green Ghana Day by planting trees along the ‘Silicon Drive’ avenue of the main campus in Tesano.” Other educational institutions such as the University of Development Studies, Nyankpala Campus, the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), Somanya, and several institutions around the country participated in the ceremony. The Green Ghana Day 2023 was launched at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Aside from the massive participation of educational institutions in this year’s event, many MMDAs, ministries, governmental and non-governmental organizations, religious organizations, and traditional leaders promoted and participated in the ceremony, making it a success.

There is no doubt that many Ghanaians took part in the tree-planting exercises of the previous years’ celebrations, as well as this year’s. The success of this event depicts that, when we unite for a common purpose, we can make good things happen in Ghana. When it comes to environmental issues, there should not be any form of division whatsoever, especially along political party, religious, and ethnic lines. We all share the environment and we all need to protect it from harm. That is why any well-meaning Ghanaian will be happy with how this year’s and past Green Ghana Day events have been successful. Though we seem to have entirely understood the idea behind the project, which is to promote afforestation and curb deforestation, in essence, an environmental restoration and reclamation project, we may have to add more.

Yes, just as the salt we use to prepare food is part of but not the whole recipe, the good Green Ghana Project may be part of the greater solution to our environmental problems. Thus, though it is essential, this project alone may not be able to address the perennial flooding, plastic pollution, poor waste management, and illegal logging in Ghana. Though we have done very well by innovatively instituting this commemorative day for tree planting, it seems there are equally important environmental issues that need our immediate action too. As the government and other bodies are working assiduously to create a better environment, we the citizens could support them. When we nicely supported this year's event, it was very colourful. Therefore, it would be excellent if we could try to contribute to finding solutions for other environmental challenges.

The first issue I would like to mention is our waste management system. Recently, World Environment Day 2023 highlighted the problems associated with plastic products and plastic pollution around the world. Though plastic pollution is very critical and requires our immediate action, the problem is greater than plastic pollution. We do seem not to have many environmentally friendly waste management systems in our country. We have been using age-old damping sites and landfill sites, which have several associated problems. In addition, we have not taken waste segregation and recycling seriously enough. The other problem with waste management is sewage management. Our waste management systems seem to be somewhat outdated, or not very efficient in our modern era.

We may start by promoting waste segregation and educating the populace on its relevance to effective waste management. In our era, clean energy sources are being considered, to replace the fuels that are driving climate change. Several alternatives are being considered, including recycling solid waste into briquettes. The Energy Ministry and the Energy Commission may begin to promote briquette production and use in households, as a means of promoting recycling. Briquette production and use, if adopted, could absorb greater proportions of the solid waste we generate, including sawdust, coconut husks, rice husks, and sometimes plastic waste. Research conducted by Bensah et al. (2019), projected that, if adopted and operationalized in Ghana, the briquette industry could replace 70% of household cooking fuel which directly comes from charcoal and firewood. It could also preserve 91% of our forests (because charcoal production and woodfuel are the leading causes of deforestation), and improve environmental sanitation. It may even help create many jobs in both rural and urban areas around the country. Many of the raw materials for briquette production seem to be readily available in almost all parts of Ghana. The government could support start-ups in this sector with funding and equipment, groom other young entrepreneurs to start businesses in the sector and promote the use of briquette. This may be a viable avenue that could help us to improve solid waste management, create jobs, and enhance sanitation in the country.

When I visited my hometown recently, I was happy to see that there were nice modern buildings all over the place. The transformation is massive and has even made the place unrecognizable. I was happy because I love development and progressive things. On the other hand, I realized the damage this urbanization had caused to the livelihoods of the residents, who originally depended on the environment and its associated ecosystem services, to earn their living. Also, the natural environment has been degraded by construction activities. Reports gathered indicated that some people no longer benefit from the natural environment and the ecosystem services it provides to them. This is both an environmental and economic issue, which seems to negatively affect the unemployment rate in Ghana. Some young farmers used to rely on family lands to support themselves and their families. Unfortunately, there are only a few agricultural lands available currently, and not many alternative sources of income are available to residents.

Illegal logging and deforestation are so rampant in the country that, if not checked, they may derail us from our environmental restoration course. Huge forests that house enormous quantities of biodiversity are being destroyed daily in the country. Human activities such as charcoal production, activities of chainsaw operators, and the high demand for timber products both locally and internationally, are driving the destruction of our forests, and their associated biodiversity. It is unfortunate that “Between 1990 and 2010, Ghana lost an average of 125,400 ha or 1.68% per year. In total, between 1990 and 2010, Ghana lost 33.7% of its forest cover or around 2,508,000 ha.” If we are not able to change how we handle our forests, we may inadvertently convert our arable lands into deserts. The fact that we have an agro-ecological zone named as Forest-Savannah Transition Zone, could inform us to invent effective reclamation intervention. Green Ghana Day fits in perfectly here and we thank the government for it. However, I believe we could fully enforce the legislation that protects our environment and its resources. We may work together with the local people who live close to our forests and protected areas, and together with them, seek participatory and lasting solutions to this menace of forest degradation. Sometimes, these local people may become victims of the systems invented by some selfish and unpatriotic people, and they may need governmental support in the form of legislation and activism.

Over-use of synthetic agrochemicals has caused harm to the environment, and it is still doing so. In recent times, beneficial insect populations have kept dwindling. However, we have not been able to determine the exact losses we might have incurred in this regard. Especially, as insects are usually very tiny and unnoticeable, we tend to overlook the role they play in our environment. Some insects are pollinators, and the ecosystem services they render to us, make it possible for us to get fruits, vegetables, and various types of food. Other insects in the environment are natural enemies of agricultural and storage pests. Unfortunately, most agrochemicals do not differentiate between good insects and bad insects. They usually destroy all insects in the environment, including other animals that provide ecosystem services to humans, and other animals. Some of our cash crops such as cashew and cocoa will be negatively affected because they depend greatly on pollination to produce their yield. Mangoes and citrus plants also rely on pollination. To conserve and restore our natural pollinators, we may need to reduce the use of harmful synthetic non-selective agrochemicals. Though researchers are constantly seeking alternative pesticides that are environmentally friendly, governmental support and the entire nation’s support are required to create the necessary changes.

In conclusion, though Green Ghana Day is a laudable innovation, we could invent similar programmes for the restoration of our environment. We could work together as a team, bringing all stakeholders on board, to find lasting solutions to all our environmental problems, and to create a better society.