The Global Alliance for Technologies in Nature Conservation (GAfTiNC) has unveiled its ground breaking Plant The Birthday Tree and Celebrate Green initiatives, marking a bold step forward in grassroots climate action.
Launched in Ampatia, a community in Ghana’s Ashanti Region, the program aims to mobilize individuals and institutions to combat deforestation through personalized tree-planting campaigns linked to birthdays and anniversaries.
GAfTiNC President Emmanuel Opoku emphasized the initiative’s alignment with the Paris Agreement, stressing the need to translate national climate pledges into individual action.
“Climate change is real, and everyone must be involved,” Opoku told reporters.
“Under the Paris Agreement, every country is expected to commit to effectively addressing and managing climate change. At the national level, we aim to extend this responsibility to individuals and institutions, fostering the understanding that collective involvement will enable us to combat climate change as swiftly as possible”, he added.
Opoku stated that their target for this tree-planting initiative is to plant over 100 million trees within the next two years.
He said “Within the next two years, we aim to plant over 100 million trees nationwide. For example, if you are 40 years old, you should plant 40 trees. By multiplying this across all age groups, we can achieve this goal collectively”.
Opoku highlighted the campaign’s unique psychological approach. “The psychological effect we aim to create centers on awareness: people cut trees without understanding the implications, including the years a tree takes to grow.
“Through this initiative, we want to ensure that if you plant one tree and take time to nurture it, the struggles you endure and the lessons you learn will foster respect for all trees. For example, nurturing a tree for five years and seeing it remain small teaches you to value mature trees. This ensures they aren’t wasted”
He also noted that each tree planted under the initiative will be tracked via the Personified Tree Planting (PTP) system, a digital platform assigning green scores to participants based on their contributions.
“As we plant trees under the Plant The Birthday Tree Initiative, each one is recorded in a system called the Personified Tree Planting (PTP) system. Through PTP, we can track every tree planted by individuals, institutions, or groups. Over time, this will help us establish a ‘green score’ to measure each contributor’s role in climate change mitigation”, he said.
He further explained that the initiative is a daily activity stressing “From now on, we will launch a social media campaign to mobilize nationwide participation. A dedicated platform will allow individuals and institutions celebrating birthdays or anniversaries to notify us in advance. Our teams across the country will then assist them in planting tree.
Nana Kwame Oduro, Odikuro of Ampatia, praised the initiative’s potential impact. “The trees you see here today symbolize hope for our town. Climate change threatens our livelihoods, and this program empowers our people to fight back”.
The launch event drew cross-sector support, including representatives from Ghana’s Forestry Commission, Ghana Health Service, former District Chief Executive Nana Kwabena Nkrumah, reps from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, National Health Insurance Scheme and local dignitaries.
During the event launch, health practitioners conducted health screenings and educational sessions on preventive care and healthy living.
Source: www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu
