Floods destroy thousands of tree seedlings

Ho, Aug. 5, GNA - Floods have destroyed thousands of tree seedlings meant for a forest plantation project in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District in the Volta Region.

The seedlings were raised by “Action for Development of Deprived Communities” (ADICODE) of Kpetoe for African Foresters.

It cost ADICODE over 20,000 Ghana cedis to raise the seedlings from which it expected to earn some revenue, Mr Ricky Nelson Atiana, its Financial Secretary, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.

Mr Atiana said African Foresters was expected to collect the mature seedlings for transplanting this rainy season.

He said ADICODE was also raising some Wawa seedlings on a trial basis.

He said raising Wawa seedlings required special skills and expertise because there are no seeds from which to raise the seedlings.

Mr Enoch Agbley, Volta Regional Representative of African Foresters, told the GNA that the Adaklu-Anyigbe District Assembly was required to provide land for the tree plantations.

He said the land was expected to be cleared and prepared close to the nursery for the transplanting of the seedlings.

Mr Agbley said it was expected that ADICODE would evacuate the seedlings to a safer location when there were signs of flooding in the area.

He said African Foresters provided 6,000 polythene pots in which the seedlings were raised.

Mr Agbley said African Foresters was yet to give guidelines to ADICODE regarding any future arrangement for raising of Wawa seedlings.

An official of the Forestry Office in Ho told the GNA that it was only providing technical advice on the project.

He said the Forest Plantation project has great potentials to employ many people over a long period of time and that there might be genuine difficulties in its implementation.