�Me & My Tree� Planting Competition Launched In Kumasi

The tree planting exercise will be done along some selected principal routes, school compounds and open spaces in the metropolis. This is however not cast in stone.

I am happy to announce to you that the exercise has begun and about one hundred and seventy one trees have already been planted. Our ultimate aim is to plant at least one million trees by the year 2017.

May I use this opportunity to encourage all and sundry to resolve to plant and tend at least one tree in a life time. The time to start is now.

Anybody who wants to plant a tree should contact the KMA, Department of Parks & Gardens, FORIG or KNUST for some of the seedlings. This task may seem cumbersome but can be done in these three (3) simple steps:
Select a site
Get a seedling
Plant your seedling and tend it to grow.

I must add that, this tree species has been carefully selected by the Experts because it has the natural ability of withstanding any harsh weather conditions. So we do not have to be scared by the vagaries of the weather in this greening process. Please be assured that it would not be a difficult task after all.

To engender the interest of school children in this whole venture, the concept of a competition in the actual tree planting has been developed. It has been dubbed �Me & My Tree� Competition.

The idea is to award school children who will successfully plant and nurse a tree to grow. It will not be only the child who will be awarded but also the school stands to get rewards in the form of computers, laptops, books and other educational equipment.

I therefore encourage all school children to get actively involved in planting and nurturing the trees as best as they can to be winners at the end of the day.

I also wish to appeal to parents, guardians, teachers and everybody else to help instill the habit of environmental preservation in our children right from the start. For even the good book encourages us to teach the children the way in which they should go and they will never depart from it.

It is very important that we, as adults who are leading the way, display a sense of environmental consciousness. Let us care about everything nature; especially our trees, for they are our very existence on planet earth. Need I list the benefits of trees to human beings? A word to the wise is indeed, enough!