Ghana has been losing rainforest at an alarming rate in recent years, but the government of Ghana is taking steps to change all that. Green Ghana Day on Friday 11 June saw communities come together for a massive drive to plant over 5 million trees nationwide. As part of the Green Ghana Day campaign, the Government of Ghana provided free seedlings to all individuals, government and non-governmental organisations, traditional leaders, educational and religious institutions willing to roll up their sleeves and help out. The event was also supported by the GrEEn Project.

Photos above - 2000 trees were planted by the teams and partners of the grEEn project © LoCAL-UNCDF Photos: Elorm Ntumy, 2021

UNCDF is currently implementing the GrEEn Project, a four-year action funded by the European Union (EU) in the Ashanti and Western Regions, that seeks to create opportunities for vulnerable groups by prioritizing green and resilience-building actions. The team from UNCDF - together with its partners SNV and SOS - led a tree planting exercise in the Ejura Sekyedumase District in the Ashanti Region to plant a total of 2,000 tree seedlings. The exercise was supported by a total of 70 people comprising of local, political and traditional leaders including the Ejura Divisional Council, the Forestry Commission of Ghana as well as the residents of the community.

The tree seedlings were planted throughout the Ejura township as well as at the banks of two waterbodies, the Asasebon and Humako streams, in order to protect the water sources from direct sunlight and encroachment.
Speaking about the tree planting exercise, the UNCDF Programme Management Specialist, Enea Stocco, said that UNCDF through the GrEEn project is committed to helping local communities deal with the effects of climate change and to take necessary actions to reverse environmental destruction.
UNCDF Technical Specialist in Local Government Finance, Angela Kwashie, added that UNCDF collaborated with the traditional leaders and the local community in order to drive community ownership of the tree planting exercise. She said UNCDF through the GrEEn Project is committed to supporting similar initiatives in the future.

The GrEEn Project, known in full as the “Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana” is a four-year action from the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana and jointly implemented by UNCDF and SNV. The project aims to create greater economic and employment opportunities for youth, women and returning migrants by promoting and supporting sustainable, green businesses in the Ashanti and Western Regions of Ghana. GrEEn is implemented under the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa with funds of 20 million euros.
The LoCAL Climate Adaptive Living Facility is being scaled up in Ghana through the GrEEn Project. LoCAL channels finance to local governments for locally led adaptation that builds resilience to climate change, with some 28 countries now designing or implementing their LoCAL actions.

Article and photos by Elorm Ntumy, UNCDF LoCAL-Ghana 2021.

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