The Board of Directors of the Bui Power Authority (BPA) has approved a policy on the conservation and protection of 26 different economic indigenous and domesticated tree species around the dam’s enclave in the Banda District of the Bono Region.
The Authority, managers of the Bui Generating Station, is currently tagging the tree species for easy identification, Mr Samuel Kofi Ahiave Dzamesi, the Chief Executive Officer of the BPA, said on Friday.
With assistance from the Wildlife Division (Bui National Park) of the Forestry Commission, the Authority was sensitising local communities on the need to preserve the trees.
Mr Dzamesi made this known in a speech read on his behalf at a tree planting exercise at Bui in the Bono Region on Friday, to mark the Green Ghana Day, with personnel of the BPA and the Ghana Armed Forces participating.
He expressed worry over the impacts of climate change on humans and the environment and underlined the need for the BPA to complement efforts towards the global fight against the adverse effects in the country.
Climate change was contributing to erratic rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, food insecurity and increasing poverty levels, he said.
A strong political will with an increased investment response “by the Emergency Response Team is attributable to our collective efforts for the acquisition and deployment of additional two State-of-the-art multi-purpose fire tenders in operations at the BGS here.”
“Aside protecting our installations and our forests, cashew farms within the catchment area were protected thereby enhancing biodiversity conservation,” he stated.
Mr Chrisentus Kuunifaa, the Director, Occupational Health, Safety, Security and Environment, BPA, said the Authority was marking the day with the planting of more than 16,000 tree species around the dam’s enclave.
Last year, the Authority cultivated and nurtured 11,813 different species of trees, which were all doing well, he stated.
So far, the BPA had cultivated 1,400 acres of tree plantation, since the Green Ghana initiative was launched in 2021, and promised the Authority’s commitment to ensuring that the plantation was preserved for the nation to derive the optimum benefit.
Mr Samuel Nimako-Boateng, the Director, Power Operations Department, indicated that tree planting remained a year-round activity of the BPA, saying: “We need the trees to protect the dam.”
He lauded the Green Ghana initiative and advised communities around the dam to plant and nurture trees to restore the nation’s depleted vegetative and forest covers.
GNA
DEN/LKA/ABD
7 June 2024
Caption: Pictures show personnel planting trees
