Ghana is set to reap multiple benefits from the reforestation program currently underway in the country, an official stated here on Tuesday.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie took the media on a field trip to witness tree planting around the Weija catchment area to protect the dam from encroachers.
The Weija Dam located in the south-western end of the capital, is fed with water from the Densu River. that flows from the Atiwa forest, 125 km north to the capital.
“It is important that we protect the river. What we are told is that it is silted and starts to smell. It means if we do not protect it by planting trees around it and stopping the encroachers, very soon we will not have anything to drink,” the CEO averred.
There are cattle ranches located around the lake in the Tomefa community with cow dung washing into the water around the basin. Also indiscriminate felling of trees for wood fuel, sand winning, stone quarrying and household fecal matter also contribute a great deal to pollute the water body.
Owusu-Afriyie therefore underscored the importance of the reaforestation activity being carried out by the Youth in Aforestation project since 2017.
Water is life and therefore Forestry Commission is contributing significantly to ensuring that we have water in this country, added the CEO.
Esther Oppong-Agyei, head supervisor of the Forest plantation staff at Tomefa , near the Weija Dam , said the personnel sometimes had to spend their own money on watering the tender trees on the 13 hectares stretch of land to ensure they survived the harsh weather condition during the dry season.
Chairman of the Densu Lake Protection Committee Paul Kwame Senahia said the initiative was a timely intervention else the lake could dry up.
“The lake is so polluted because of encroachment. The buffer zone is supposed to be 300 meters from the river bank but people have encroached so close to the banks of the lake
“So if we do not plant trees, the encroachment will come up to the lake and then it will further pollute the water. So we appreciate what the government and Forestry Commission are doing,” Senahia intimated.
Weija water serves Accra West, Accra East and part of Central Region so it is serving a lot of purpose. So we need this lake to be protected, because according to Senahia the Ghana Water Company limited had to spend so much on chemicals to treat the raw water due to the high level of pollution.
To ensure that the young trees are nourished even during the dry season, Edith Ansah, Regional Manager of the Forestry Commission, said budgetary allocation had been made to procure irrigation machines to water the trees. Enditem
