Accra, June 3, GNA - A national durbar is to be held at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region on Monday June 5, to climax activities marking the celebration of this year's World Environment Day. The Day set aside by the United Nations is celebrated on June 5 each year, to draw worldwide awareness to the environment and to also focus the attention of policy makers and all citizens to the need to be conscious of the environment in all national developmental policies schemes and programmes.

The global theme for this year's celebration is "Deserts and Desertification" with an accompanying slogan "Don't Desert Dry lands," which is meant to draw attention to the adverse effects of desertification on the livelihoods of people.

A statement signed by Mary Magdalene Appiah-Kuto of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Local Government and Environment said with about 40 per cent of its total land area threatened by desertification, Ghana was greatly concerned about the expansion of desert conditions and was working with the international community and national institutions to find solutions to the problem. The statement said the excessive consumption of natural environmental resources, the pollution of the sea, the air, land, poor and uncaring environmental activities would only bring in its wake negative consequences detrimental to the present and the future of the people.

The Ministry expressed the hope that by the end of the World Environment Day 2006, Ghanaians would have been awakened to the dangers of activities, which go to impoverish natural resources, over exploit biodiversity, degrade the land, erode the soils as well as find lasting and practical ways to preserve land and halt the spread of desertification.

It said one of the cardinal concerns enshrined in the Ghana National Plan on the Environment is awareness creation and Ghanaians ought to be made aware that the earth's ecological system cannot be maintained by the indiscriminate felling of trees, bush burning and charcoal burning, wanton destruction of wildlife and fauna, uncontrolled mining in the forest, head waters and 'galamsey.'

Some of the activities planned to commemorate the day include massive tree planting in selected communities throughout the country, quiz competitions in schools on the environment and desertification, tour of sand winning, landfill sites and composites plants as well as religious services and other awareness creation events.