Accra, the capital of Ghana, is rapidly expanding and the number of inhabitants increasing. Consequentially the encroachment of natural areas is a growing factor. Population growth is usually directly correlated to an increase in pollution rates, making it a worry since we are reducing our natural air purifiers – trees – and increasing air pollutants.
Trees help to reduce greenhouse gases and fight climate change; improving the quality of the natural environment. They also attract wildlife and increase wildlife habitat, as well as improve water quality in your streams and ponds and help control soil erosion. Therefore, the importance of balanced human development with the conservation of nature cannot be understated.
With the tree planting activity of My City My Forest program, we intended to raise awareness of the importance of trees with participants. We were able to plant 62 trees in the city of Accra. We planted different species of fruit, ornamental and timber trees and learned about their benefits. Some of them were seedlings grown from our first activity, unfortunately not enough of them survived so we had to replace them with bought ones.
The communities that participated will carry on caring for their trees as now they have gained an understanding of their importance. We believe that this knowledge gained will be transferred slowly to others in their community and encourage people to care for their own environment.