Accra, Dec. 12, GNA
– Ghana has deployed nature-based solutions to tackle climate change in the
forestry sector as part of effort towards achieving its climate action
strategies.
To this end, Ghana
has placed a ban on illegal mining and took necessary steps to reverse
destroyed water bodies, vegetation and forests.
A released issued by
the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and copied to
the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, said in addition, some 60,000 young people
have been employed to help restore degraded lands, and have, so far, planted 24
million trees covering an area of 190,000 hectares.
It said this was
disclosed by Roselyn Fosuah Adjei, Director, Climate Change and National REDD+
Coordinator at the Forestry Commission at a side event organized by Ghana with
support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the ongoing
Climate Change Conference in Spain.
“Ghana developed an
ambitious sub-national emission reduction programme covering the 5.9 million
hectare cocoa-forests mosaic landscape in the southern half of the
country. Ghana expects to generate about
598.2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in emission reductions, over
the life of its REDD+ programme,” she said.
According to her,
the UNDP is currently supporting the Forestry commission to replicate a REDD+
programme in Shea landscape of Ghana adding, “this will form a major part of
Ghana’s contribution to global efforts to close the ambition gap before and
after 2020.”
Since the
ratification of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change continues to be on top of the
National Development Agenda of Ghana.
REDD+ (Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus), is an international
initiative that seeks to provide incentives to forest nations to sustainably
manage forest to protect the global climate and support the well-being forest
dependent communities.
As part of efforts
to contribute to reducing global warming, Ghana has made enormous strides in
the implementation of REDD+.
GNA
