Tree for Life Initiative restores 23,600 hectares of degraded land

Tree for Life Restoration Initiative recorded the planting of about 31 million seedlings in 2025, resulting in the restoration of approximately 23,600 hectares of degraded landscapes across the country.

The programme recorded success rates ranging between 50 and 78 per cent in the northern savannah zone, and between 65 and 85 per cent in the High Forest Zone. 

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, announced this during the Government Accountability Series.

He said the initiative seeks to restore degraded forest reserves and mined-out areas and transform them into ecologically functional landscapes,” he stated.

“Building on this success, the Ministry is maintaining the planting target of 30 million seedlings this year which commenced on 5th June until the end of the raining season,” he noted.

The minister said the Forestry Commission had engaged and deployed 2,719 Youth Forest Champions to support implementation, who are involved in “nursery operations, seedling production, site preparation, tree planting, plantation maintenance, wildfire prevention and protection of forest reserves.” 

He encouraged members of the public to join the national campaign “to make Ghana green again,” and expressed the Ministry’s profound gratitude to corporate Ghana and other stakeholders who supported the achievement of the previous year’s target and were continuing their support this year.

The Minister added that the Ministry was also improving ecotourism facilities within national parks and resource reserves to maximise revenue from forest and wildlife resources, with focus this year on completing a 120-seater picnic area and a 10-unit chalet at the Shai Hills Resource Reserve, as well as a 20-room tourist accommodation and restaurant at the Mole National Park.

Mr Armah-Kofi Buah said, Ghana, having become the first country in Africa and second in the world to qualify for the issuance of Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade licenses in August 2025, had issued over 600 licenses to about 22 destinations in the European Union since 2025, with 411 licenses issued at the end of the second quarter of 2026 alone. 

“The FLEGT licenses have enhanced Ghana’s credibility in the timber trade internationally,” he noted, adding that this had also strengthened the country’s global standing in its efforts towards climate resilience.

Richard Aniagyei, ISD