About 85 per cent of the 10,650 trees planted under the Knights and Ladies of Marshall Afforestation Project at Saint Joseph Technical Institute at Saboba in the Northern Region, have survived.
The Marshallan Relief and Development Services (MAREDES), an NGO wing of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall of the Catholic Church, spearheaded the project and collaborated with the Institute to plant the trees, comprising teak and acacia in August, last year.
Worthy Brother Samuel Zan Akologo, the Supreme Officer responsible for Advocacy at MAREDES of the Noble Order, during a follow-up to the project site, expressed satisfaction with the survival rate of the trees.
He said the project at Saboba formed part of efforts to plant about 50,000 trees towards the centenary of the Noble Order of the Knights of Marshall in 2026.
He said, ‘This project is also about the promotion of Pope Francis Laudato Si,’ which seeks to safeguard and protect the environment.’
Worthy Brother Akologo said although they intended planting 15,000 trees in the area this year, they had only succeeded in planting 13,000 trees because of the temporary shortage of seedlings at the Yendi Forest Services Division.
He appealed to government and other stakeholders to support them raise the needed seedlings for plantation, adding that the project was in line with the government’s Green Ghana Initiative, which seeks to protect the environment.
Mr Maxwell Atingyena, Principal of the Saint Joseph Technical Institute, commended the Knights and Ladies of Marshall for their support, including providing a polytank to harvest water for the nursing of the seedlings, which had helped the trees to survive.
He said the Institute, last year, developed an afforestation and furniture committee to tackle the prevalence of furniture deficit in the school, hence the need to plant trees.
He said, ‘The Knights and Ladies of Marshall came to support us, and now I can say that our vision is in the right direction.’
He appealed to the government and other NGOs to support them to fence the project to avoid residents encroaching on the land.
The main idea behind the MAREDES is to provide a framework to harness the legal, organisational and technical competencies of the Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall since its founding in 1926 to undertake and render services more effectively and efficiently to society.
The Noble Order has over the past 97 years undertaken a myriad of social actions in various communities, including supporting the education of needy pupils, visiting and providing for the sick among other charitable and community services in the country.
Source: Ghana News Agency
