Government has announced its intension to plant 30 million trees annually. The tree planting initiated by the Ministry of Science, Environment, Technology and Innovation is intended to help prevent desertification that is glaring at the country.
The sector Minister Mahama Ayariga announced this at the Gbewaa palace when he paid a courtesy call on the Regent of Dabgon, Kampakuya Naa Andani Abdulai Yakubu in Yendi. The tree planting program, Mr. Ayariga said will be community-driven with chiefs actively involved because they are the custodians of the land.
He emphasized that the success of the program is largely depend on the support of the chiefs. The program will involve the Environmental Protection Agency, the forestry commission and other major stakeholders in environment.
Mr Ayariga said given the rate at which Sahara is creeping towards the country and the rapid deterioration of the Ghana’s forest cover, there was the need for aggressive proactive steps to be taken to protect the environment. “Any project to protect the environment is unsustainable unless that project is own by the chiefs’’ Mahama Ayariga noted.
The minister also announced a directive issued by the president that all public toilets and secondary and academic institutions where several people and children converge are to be converted into bio gas toilets that can be used to generate gas for use of cooking and also provide electricity for the institutions and the communities.
The directive, Mr Ayariga explained forms part government effort long time measures to solving power problems in the country.
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the country by the directive are expected to compel all schools under their jurisdictions to convert their toilets into bio gas toilets and also make sure that all public toilets in the districts are converted.
The Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) in the Northern Region said it is overwhelm by the numerous challenges facing the agency quest to providing environmental governance to the people in the region.
The E.P.A is confronted with annual bushfire, illegal logging, illegal mining, poor sanitation, unsustainable farming practice and the activities of Fulani herdsmen and group hunting among others.
These challenges E.P.A said are derailing its effort to protect the environment and appealed to government to assist them over the challenges.
Briefing the ministry of Science, Environment, Technology and Innovation led by the sector minister, Mahama Ayariga on the environmental problems in the region, Northern Region Director of E.P.A Abu Iddrisu appealed to ministry integrate their challenges into the ministry activities.
Mr Abu lamented about the activities of the Fulani’s which he said is becoming more serious because they feed their animals in the night and well-armed.
In spite of the challenges, the EPA has been able to established two new zonal offices to take care of 9 major local languages and 27 dilates. The two zonal offices he said are strategically located in Damaongo to take care of Western half of the north and one in Wulensi to take care of environmental activities in the Eastern corridor.
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