MTN Ghana has planted more than 1,660 trees at the Chipa Forest Reserve in the Shai Hills as part of efforts to restore degraded portions of the reserve and promote environmental sustainability.
The exercise formed part of the company’s Sustainability Month activities, which focused on promoting environmental awareness, responsible behaviour and sustainable development among employees and communities.
Madam Georgina Asare Fiagbenu, Acting General Manager for Sustainability and Shared Value at MTN Ghana, said the exercise was intended to contribute to restoring and protecting the forest while encouraging employees to take practical action towards environmental conservation.
She said the company had engaged the Forestry Commission and the Rainforest Alliance to identify areas where it could support forest restoration efforts.
“Trees are important. They improve our environment. They give us shelter, they give us protection, they improve our well-being,” she said.
Madam Fiagbenu said the Chipa Forest Reserve was selected after the Forestry Commission identified degraded portions requiring replanting.
She said MTN Ghana mobilised employee volunteers to plant the trees and hoped the initiative would create a lasting environmental legacy for future generations.
She said the company had agreed on a maintenance plan with the Rainforest Alliance to ensure that the newly planted trees survived beyond the exercise.
The plan included monitoring the seedlings, providing water when necessary and undertaking other maintenance activities until the rains resumed.
“What we said to the Rainforest Alliance is to give us a plan to maintain and to sustain this, so that when we come back in two years, we will not have lost what we have grown,” she said.
Madam Fiagbenu said MTN Ghana would also incorporate tree planting into its annual 21 Days of Yellow Care employee volunteering programme.
She said the initiative would enable employees to return to the site annually to monitor the trees and plant additional seedlings where necessary.
“Hopefully, this will be a lasting legacy for generations to come,” she said.
Madam Linda Ansah, District Manager of the Tema-Ada Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission, said the Chipa Forest Reserve was gazetted in the 1960s but portions had become degraded due to illegal harvesting of firewood and logging.
She said the Commission had implemented various interventions over the years to restore degraded portions of the reserve.
Madam Ansah welcomed MTN Ghana’s intervention, saying it would complement government’s efforts to restore degraded forest reserves.
She said the exercise also contributed to the national Tree for Life initiative launched by President John Dramani Mahama, which targets planting 30 million trees across the country in 2026.
She said the more than 1,660 trees being planted by MTN Ghana covered about two hectares of degraded forest land.
The species selected included mahogany, kessé and acacia, which she said were suited to the geographical conditions, grew relatively quickly and contributed to carbon sequestration.
Madam Ansah said tree planting was only the beginning of the restoration process, stressing the importance of proper maintenance to ensure that the seedlings survived and matured.
She said the Forestry Commission would undertake activities including watering during dry periods, weeding around the seedlings to reduce competition for nutrients and replacing seedlings that did not survive.
The Commission would also construct fire belts around the planted areas to protect the young trees from bushfires during the dry season.
She said forest guards were stationed around the reserve around the clock to prevent illegal logging and other activities that could undermine restoration efforts.
Madam Ansah encouraged participants to actively participate in the exercise and contribute to efforts to create a greener Ghana.
The initiative underscores the role of corporate sustainability programmes in supporting environmental restoration and encouraging businesses and employees to contribute to national climate and conservation efforts.
