Agricultural Institute Leads Massive Tree Planting Exercise

The Kumasi Institute for Tropical Agriculture (KITA) has led a tree planting exercise at Domeabra in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality as part of activities to mark this year�s World Earth Day. On hand to provide support was the US based NGO, �Trees for the Future�. More than 400 school children participateed in the exercise held under the theme �Green cities�. For over three hours, they planted cocoa seedlings, albizea, citrus, lemon, moringa and luceana along the main road leading to the town, some streets and schools� compound. Mr Samuel Owusu-Takyi, Director of KITA, expressed concern about the alarming degradation of the environment and warned that the consequences could be devastating if unchecked. The extreme weather conditions the country has been facing in recent times, he said, should be a wake-up call to the people to act together to stop the recklessness. �The world�s resources, including oceans, trees and animal species are fast becoming endangered as a result of our own greed and bad behavior and this would have to change�, he added. Mr Owusu-Takyi said it would be completely irresponsible for the present generation to show inaction in the face of the looming danger. He appealed to teachers to help school kids take keen interest in the protection of the environment and contribute to the enhancement of biodiversity. Mrs Dorothy Osei, the Head teacher of the Domeabra Junior High School, called for the formation of environmental clubs in schools to aid pupils and students to have better understanding of the ramifications of the careless destruction of the environment. World Earth Day is an annual event celebrated globally to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first marked in 1970 and now commemorated in more than 192 countries under the supervision of the Earth Day Network with support from the United Nations.