This  year’s World Day to Combat Desertifica­tion and Drought was on Thursday held in Tamale to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.

The theme for the global celebration was “Restore the Lands; Unlock the opportuni­ties” whilst the theme for the national celebration was “One Child, One Tree.

The durbar was organised by Ministry of Environment Science and Technology in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

The Minister of Environ­ment, Science and Technology, Dr Ibrahim Murtala Moham­med, commended the Environ­mental Protection Authority(E­PA), the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Forestry Commission, Ministry of Education through the Ghana Education Service (GES) and all stakeholders for working closely with his ministry to involve chil­dren and youth in planting trees across the country.

He said the National target for the Tree Planting was to  plant 30 million trees this year and Northern Region target was to plant 10,000 seedlings across the region bearing in mind that every tree planted was a lesson in environmental responsibility.

Dr Mohammed said the initia­tive was being spearheaded by his ministry as their flagship contri­bution to the government’s Tree for Life Programme

This, he stated, sought to em­power every child in the country to plant and nurture a tree, in­stilling a culture of environmental stewardship from their youthful age and then contribute to the national reforestation and climate resilience efforts.

He said the phenomenon of desertification and drought were not more distant threats in North­ern Ghana

According to him, they live and experience them daily, threatening their food security, water resources, access to water, their biodiversity and ultimately increasing pressure on land from deforestation overgrasing, unsus­tainable farming practices and climate change.

“These pressures are degrad­ing our soils and limiting the fu­ture potential of our environment and economy,” he added.

The minister added that, the Ghana Forest Plantation Strat­egy, which targets the planting of 625,000 hectares of forest plantations by 2040, was a major contribution to the land resto­ration and climate mitigation.

He said Ghana joined the Global Shield Africa Risk capac­ity initiative as a member of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) to consider providing drought insurance policy to drought related issues.

“Each of these initiatives is a seed of restoration not just of the environment but of hope dignity and opportunity,” he added.

He said planting of trees was a contribution to the national development and an investment in the future of this country and beyond.

The Minister stated that as they were working towards res­toration, they would be contrib­uting to the achievement of Tar­get 2 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework which focuses on restoration.

He called on the opinion leaders, chiefs, stakeholders, school children, youth to con­tinue with their advocacy for responsible land use in their respective communities across the country.

The Northern Regional Min­ister, Mr Ali Adolf John Mbu­ridiba said children constituted about 40 per cent of the popu­lation and they were also future leaders and the theme for this year’s celebration was a well-thought-out idea.

Mr Mburidiba also appealed to all stakeholders to help com­bat desertification and drought of which tree-planting was an important component to make maximum use of children in their initiatives.