The World Environment Day is observed annually on 5th June each year to raise awareness about the pressing issues related to nature. These include awareness creation about climate change, global warming, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity.
Isaac Kofi Ntori, project manager of A Rocha Ghana, Northern office, said the United Nations set the 5th June as World Environment Day to create awareness about the dangers and threats that our environment is faced with so, that immediate actions can be taken to reverse the challenges. Our very lives depend on the environment and once it is in a critical condition it means our lives are in critical condition as well.
The publics need to know about the benefits of the environment to humanity and help A Rocha Ghana and partners to promote positive actions to protect the environment, he appealed.
The theme for 2024 World Environment Day is, ‘land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience’. The theme is carefully chosen because our environment is fast depleting.
According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40 percent of the planet’s land is degraded, directly affecting half of the world’s population.
The number and duration of droughts have increased by 29 percent (29%) since year 2000 without urgent action, droughts may affect over three-quarters of the world’s population by 2050.
Isaac Kofi Ntori added that our lives depend on the environment, providing us with all the resources we need for living and our well-being. However, these resources are dwindling due to population increase, over-exploitation and unsustainable use by
humans. Therefore, we need to take urgent action to restore and conserve our environment.
The Northern sector office of A Rocha Ghana commemorated the day in partnership with Mole National Park in West Gonja municipality of the Savannah region, with a symposium at Mole National Park Jebote conference hall and outdoor conservation activities for selected students from the three (3) Senior High Schools; Damongo SHS, St. Anne’s Girls SHS and Ndewura Jakpa SHS.
The outdoor event saw a visit to a restoration site located at Damongo on the SAGISS/cemetery road.
The students had hands-on experience in forest pedagogy, engaged in forest systematics including tree identification, tree height and width measurement, geotagging of trees, mapping of fields, and the use of technology-based devices for forest monitoring.
Isaac Kofi Ntori revealed that the Damongo landscape restoration site is about 15 years. The site has different species such as mahogany, shea trees, dawadawa, among others. This restoration site was done to ensure the trees absorb heat or greenhouse gases to give the area optimum temperatures and also provide animals safe place to live. A similar restoration site is located at Laribanga and other communities.
A Rocha Ghana (ARG) is a committed environmental NGO providing practical conservation interventions aimed at contributing to the sustainable management of important ecological habitats and initiating programmes aimed at facilitating the target community’s ability to adapt to current trends in climate change and the impacts of a changing natural environment.
Samuel Arhin from the Collaborative Resource Management Unit, Mole National Park in a presentation, sensitized students on the need to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic waste to impact the environment positively. He appealed to the publics to assist state agencies to control the filth in the system and urged the students to share the knowledge learned with colleagues and families.
Despite the high education being carried out for the past years, he argued that Ghana needs stronger local bylaws to totally control the usage of plastics.
A host of students who spoke with this source applauded A Rocha Ghana and partners for the opportunity to get first hand practical experience with the environment.
Madam Felicia Osei Bonsu, a student from Damongo SHS commended A Rocha Ghana and partners for involving students from the three SHSs in Damongo. And said the trip to the restoration field has exposed them to a lot of techniques. Students gained skills on tree mapping using GPS, trapping cameras, field microscope, drone flying processes, among others.
Felicia added she and her colleagues learned some positive things about plastics and the three (Rs) of plastic usage; Reduce , Reuse and Recycle. She said if the 3Rs are properly adhered to, it will lead to healthy environmental hygiene.
The tree planting agenda must be enhanced to protect the environment as it is said that “the last man dies when the last tree dies”, she emphasized.
source: Abdulai Zulkaninu / padfm.com.gh
