The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio, has revealed that the government has approved an amount of GH₵2.5 million for the 2023 Green Ghana tree planting.
The Deputy Minister mentioned this at a press conference at the ministry on the government’s preparation towards the 2023 Green Ghana Day celebration.
According to Mr. Owuau-Bio, the Forestry Commission, through its district offices and internal nursery, will provide three million seedlings.
Another three million seedlings will be provided by the Commission’s alternative livelihood programme.
He also noted that the Plantation Fund Board, which was established by government through the Forestry Commission will assist in private plantation development.
“It is also going to assist with 500,000 seedlings, and some committed donors providing us 1 million seedlings. All of these will be up to 7.5 million out of the 10 million,” he stated.
He continued that “as we speak now, our approved budget for the Green Ghana this year is GH₵2.5 million. This is not enough, but we cannot say that we are not going to celebrate the day this year. So, there’s the need to start appealing for funds, which we have started since last year and we are hopeful that we will get some support from our partners to make this possible.”
This year’s Green Ghana Day celebration is scheduled for Friday, June 9, 2023 on the theme: “Our Forest, Our Health.”
Government has planned to plant 10 million trees during this year’s celebration.