Obuasi, June 8, GNA - AngloGold Ashanti at Obuasi has celebrated World Environment Day with activities designed to make school children ambassadors of promoting clean, healthy and responsible environment in the Municipality. Under the theme, "Many Species, One Planet, One Future", the event brought together school children who participated in a quiz competition, a float and tree planting exercise, all of which were meant to test their knowledge and create the needed awareness on the importance of safe and healthy environment.

Mr Kwesi Enyan, Managing Director of the mine, in a speech read for him, admitted that the involvement of school children in the celebration would help them to develop a sense of environmental responsibility which was essential to life. "It will further make you responsible citizens of tomorrow and place you in a better stead for effective environmental stewardship in the days ahead", he said, adding "I am confident that you will take up this challenge and also influence people much older than you in pursuing good environmental discipline".

Mr Enyan said AngloGold Ashanti was committed to the value of respecting the environment and therefore conducting its operations in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner, stressing "our commitment to this value is further demonstrated by the declaration of every Thursday as 'Environment Day' on the mine." Mr John Alexander Ackon, Municipal Chief Executive, said declaring every Thursday an environment day at the mine was very beneficial and relevant.

Speaking on the topic "When the last tree dies, the last man dies", Mr Ackon painted a gloomy picture about the way human activities were depleting the forest and called for pragmatic steps to salvage the situation. "We are directly or indirectly depleting our forest at an annual rate of 65,000 hectares and in about 23 years, Ghana would lose all its forest cover if pragmatic steps are not taken to salvage the situation", the Municipal Chief Executive said.

He announced government's interventions, including a national plantation programme, to help conserve the forest and protect the environment and called on Ghanaians to embrace those programmes since greening Ghana was a collective responsibility. Mr Kofi Nti, an official from the Municipal Education Directorate who spoke on "Education as a tool for promoting biodiversity", called on Ghanaian society to integrate positive environmental practices in all their activities.