Dry weather condition and lack of rainfall in the Upper East Region are likely to affect the tree planting exercise planned to mark Green Ghana Day.

The delay in rainfall in the region has also affected the crop planting season this year.

Mr Emmanuel Omane, the Officer in charge of the Bawku Forestry Division, said the tree growing target for 2023, in the Bawku enclave, was 8,000 trees, made up of teak, cassia, Mango and cashew, expected to be trans planted when the rains begin but a ceremonial tree planting exercise would be held at the forecourt of the Bawku West District Assembly, to mark the Green Ghana Day.

Mr Omane said this year’s exercise, which focused on Bawku West, would be preceded by a float procession on the principal streets of Zebilla to the custom barrier, followed by some distribution of tree seedlings.

The Bawku Forest Division Manager who spoke to the GNA in an interview also noted that in 2021 the survival rate for trees planted was 38 per cent out of the 16, 000 trees planted in the Bawku Municipality and in 2022, 160,000 trees were planted with survival rate of 52 per cent.

Mr Omane said the intervention had been good and survival rate also very encouraging in the Bawku enclave, with the current performance of 52 per cent and a target of 60 per cent survival this year.

Meanwhile, Mr Henry Opoku-Boateng, the Bolgatanga Forest District Manager, said the district targeted to transplant 285,000 trees but would start with a small number of tree seedlings since the soil was too dry for transplanting.

He explained that it would be difficult to water many young trees hence mass transplanting would be done as soon as there is good rain fall.

He said the dignitaries would plant a few trees, “We will wait and if by Monday we have rain we will plant more of the trees, if we plant more, we will not be able to water them, and they are likely to die.”

The trees would be planted in the Bolgatanga East, Talensi, Nabdam, and Bongo districts, and the Bolgatanga Municipal.

From the number, he said 35,000 trees would be planted in the off reserves and 250,000 in the forest reserve namely the Tankwidi East Forest Reserve and the Red Volta West reserve where 30 per cent of the trees planted last year survived.