Report on international day of forest celebrated in school

The 21st day of March each year marks the international day of forests, popularly known as international forest day. The day is celebrated globally in diverse ways to portray the gratitude of all humans to mother earth for the provision of forest reserves and its unlimited benefits.

This year, Abibimman Foundation in collaboration with Kingdom Dynamic Future Home, celebrated the day with the pupils and Staff of Only Believe International School (Kukurantumi) in the Akim District of the Eastern Region here in Ghana. The day was not originally popular with pupils and therefore presented an opportunity for them to be part of the event.

The Project Coordinator of Abibiman Foundation and the President and founder of Kingdom Dynamic Future Home, Mr. Prince Anthony Blessed Amegbor, who presented the opportunity to several students to understand the significance of forests and the role they play in climate change mitigation, how useful they are as sources for food, water, raw materials and other uses.

As the UN theme for this year is “water and Forests”, Forests are home to more than 80 per cent of the terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. They provide shelter, jobs and security for forest-dependent communities, with approximately 1.6 billion people relying on forest resources for their livelihoods, with most of them (1.2 billion) using trees on farms to generate food and cash. Ecosystem services are essential for human wellbeing. They provide food, water, energy and other benefits. Thus it is important to connect ecosystems to global development priorities.

The head teacher of the School, Mr. Justice Nii Klu and his assistant, Mr. Francis Ampaw were grateful to the two organizations for coming together to promote the international day of forests celebration with his school. The students partook in a tree planting exercise to mark the day and help support the Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, and the best next time is now”. The event saw some students who pledged and dedicated themselves to taking care of their trees they planted for posterity sake.

The pupils of the school participated in the event by expressing their views on how forests should be protected in relation to its role as a source of fresh water for most communities, asking interesting questions and answering very challenging questions which proved that the young understood the benefits water and forests play in their lives and the climate change mitigation process as a whole. All the students were glad they were part of a global celebration of this kind and expressed their keen interest in celebrating the day annually.

Abibimman Foundation therefore seeks to promote the integrity sustainability of our forest reserves as they are vital to the water cycle and the best ticket to carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation.