The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has announced that the government is targeting to plant 30 million tree seedlings across the country to commemorate the 2025 edition of Green Ghana Day in June from 6th to 30th.

The ministry shared the information on its Facebook page on May 27, urging the general public to "pick up free seedlings from the Forestry Commission Head Office, Forest Services Division (FSD), Regional and District offices, and other designated points nationwide.

Green Ghana Day, also known as National Tree Planting Day, was introduced in 2021 by the Akufo-Addo-led government as part of a national effort to plant trees and restore Ghana's forest cover.

The inaugural event was held on June 11, 2021, with an estimated 7 million tree seedlings planted across the country. In 2022, more than 24 million trees were planted, exceeding the 20 million target.

The former Lands Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor revealed that the Field Assessment Report worked on reported that on average, there was 67 percent survival rate in 2021 and 72 percent in 2022. In 2023, Ghana planted 10.7 million trees, with a staggering 81% surviving.

Last year, the Forestry Commission (FC) reported that the Green Ghana Day 2024 surpassed the national target of planting 10 million seedlings, with nearly 14 million seedlings distributed across the country.

The commission noted that 14 regions exceeded their planting targets, with the North East and Greater Accra regions being the only ones that failed to meet their targets.

According to the FC, with a relatively even distribution of 13,875,286 seedlings, the achievement marked a new milestone in the country’s reforestation and environmental sustainability efforts.

As of last year, the previous government reported that 30 million trees are thriving at different growth stages.

The national initiative saw to the planting of seedlings in degraded forest reserves, farms, degraded watershed areas, and within communities, i.e., medians of roads, homes, schools, churches, offices, and recreational grounds/parks.

This included selected timber trees, shade trees, ornamental trees, fruit trees, and multipurpose trees suitable for the climate conditions in the various regions. Examples of seedlings to be planted include eucalyptus, mahogany, ofram, ceiba, emire, wawa, rosewood, teak, cedrela, mansonia, rain trees, terminalia mentalis, royal palm, weeping willow, orchid tree, tree of life, mango, coconut, orange, lemon, indian almond, avocado, cashew, cassia, acacia, milletia, and albizia.

Over the years, approximately GH₵8 million has been spent to support the Green Ghana Day programme, with GH₵2 million disbursed in 2021, GH₵2 million in 2022, GH₵2.5 million in 2023, and GH₵1.5 million in 2024.

The immediate-past Lands Minister revealed that funding for Green Ghana Day is provided by Non-Governmental Organizations as well as Corporate Ghana.