Accra, June 10, GNA - Mr Richard Ashaley, Executive Director for Rural Urban Partnership for Africa (RUPFA), has stated that tree planting and the protection of the forest reserves should be the duty of all.

Mr Ashaley said 93policy makers and the law enforcement agencies should enforce the policies formulated to protect our forest for the future generations".

He said this at an educational forum on tree planting exercise for the students of St John Grammar Senior High School in Accra.

The programme dubbed 93Forest: Nature at your service" was geared towards propagating the relevant information to students and the general public on the need to plant trees and protect the forest.

Mr Ashaley said the forest covers about thirty-one per cent of the total landmarks and are made up of animals and plants, which needed to be protected and preserved.

He said the protection of the forest is critical because it serves as habitat for people, spices, animals and plants, adding that, the forest give oxygen, which refresh the atmosphere and also store carbon dioxide.

Mr Ashaley said he was concerned about human activities, which had contributed to forest depletion at a rate of about twenty-seven (27) million hectares annually.

He said the depletion level needed to be controlled in order to support and protect human and animal settlement, saying that, the forest provides food for humanity and animals.

Mr Ashaley urged private organizations and corporate bodies to invest prudently into the green economy while developing a socially responsible standing with their consumers.

He called on civil organizations to monitor all stakeholders involved, by creating the awareness on the need to protect the forest. Rev. Emmanuel Quashed, Acting National Coordinator of RUPFA, said Ghana has benefited immensely from the forest, through the exportation of timber for foreign exchange and the creation of jobs.

Mr Adofo Sampong, who represented the Headmaster of the school, commended the organizers of the programme and requested that materials, in the form of brochures and visuals on the protection of the forest and tree planting, be made available to students, to help facilitate the understanding of its concepts.