{"id":97201,"date":"2023-02-14T16:31:38","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T16:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadialogue.net\/?p=97201"},"modified":"2023-02-28T18:27:42","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T18:27:42","slug":"ghanas-tree-planting-drive-and-the-biodiversity-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/ghanas-tree-planting-drive-and-the-biodiversity-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana\u2019s tree-planting drive and the biodiversity question"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2016, Ghana pledged<\/a> to restore 2 million hectares (ha) of deforested and degraded land by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is now a third of the way there, having put 628,000 ha under restoration, according to a report<\/a> by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) based on government data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These efforts have apparently led to the sequestration of over 30 million tonnes<\/a> of CO2 \u2013 roughly the amount emitted by New Zealand each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though, of course, trees are being cut as well as planted. According to Global Forest Watch, between 2000 and 2020 Ghana in fact experienced a net tree cover loss of 573,000 ha<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the product of years of degradation, deforestation, ineffective afforestation and inaction,\u201d Ghana\u2019s minister of land and natural resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, commented in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, conservationists have raised questions over the kinds of trees being planted, suggesting the emphasis on non-native hardwood species like teak will damage local biodiversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seedlings of different tree species, including the non-native flamboyant (Delonix regia<\/em>), await planting in the Ghana Forestry Commission\u2019s nursery in Accra (Image: Zubaida Mabuno Ismail)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Bonn Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, the German government and the IUCN established the Bonn Challenge<\/a>, to bring 150 million ha of global land under restoration by 2020. In 2014, the New York Declaration on Forests<\/a> endorsed and expanded on this aim, raising the commitment to 350 million ha by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge works with nations, organisations and private entities to restore deforested and degraded lands in alignment with the UN conventions on climate, biodiversity and desertification, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To date, 61 nations have pledged support for the challenge, which includes additional regional platforms like Initiative 20×20, in Latin America, and the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative<\/a> (AFR100).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Ghana pledged to restore 1 million ha of lost forest cover by 2030. Then, at the Bonn Challenge ministerial roundtable in Rwanda in 2016, it revised that to 2 million ha by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That same year, the government published a blueprint for reforestation up to 2040, known as the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy<\/a> (GFPS), which it began implementing in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reforestation drive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ghana\u2019s reforestation efforts have three strands: \u201cforest plantation\u201d, \u201cenrichment\u201d and \u201ctrees on farms\u201d. Forest plantation<\/a> refers to planting saplings on forest reserves with a view to sustainably harvesting the timber. Enrichment<\/a> means restoring lost biodiversity by planting trees in existing forests that have been degraded, or planting in areas that originally had no trees. Finally, \u201ctrees on farms\u201d is an agroforestry scheme in which farmers plant trees on their own land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This last strand has formed the bulk of Ghana\u2019s tree-planting efforts since 2017, contributing 520,100 ha<\/a> of the land put under restoration between 2017 and 2021, according to the nation\u2019s Forestry Commission. Meanwhile, forest plantation accounted for 91,000 ha and enrichment 22,000 ha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n