World Environment Day 2024: KNUST planning department students, lecturers plant over 1000 trees

Some students and lecturers at the Planning Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have planted over 1000 trees at the institution's Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, aimed at mitigating the threats to biodiversity in Ghana.

The tree-planting expedition was led by five departments of the university, including the Land Planning, Sociology, Environmental Science, Geography, and Meteorology departments.

The planting exercise, which took place on Monday, June 3, 2024, saw some 110 students planting over 1000 teak seedlings in less than three hours under the guidance of some lecturers who were field facilitators.

One of the field facilitators, a senior lecturer at the Planning Department of the university, Dr. Stephen Takyi, revealed to OTEC News reporter Jacob Agyenim Boateng that the move was part of activities to mark the 2024 edition of World Environment Day.

"This year's event is themed Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience, and what we are saying is that as a country and university, we need to plant more trees."

"Although we have consistently embarked on several tree-planting exercises, we deemed it fit to mark this occasion with massive tree-planting to serve as a wake-up call for others," he said.

He, however, commended the students and all the field facilitators who participated in the event.

The facilitators were Dr. Mary Sefa (Lecturer, Environmental Sociology; Department of Sociology), Edmund Adzagbre (Technician, Department of Silviculture and Forest Management), Kofi Ansah (Technician & Manager of the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources Farmland), and Prof. Emmanuel Acheampong (Lecturer, Natural Resources Governance; Department of Silviculture and Forest Management).