Vodafone, Forestry Commission sign pact

Vodafone Ghana has signed a two-year partnership agreement with the Forestry Commission (FC) to plant trees in forests across the country.

Under the partnership, Vodafone Ghana intends to plant more than 3000 species of trees across the country.

This came to light when Vodafone Ghana in partnership with the Ghana International School (GIS) and the FC embarked on a tree planting exercise in the Achimota forest in Accra yesterday.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai, the CEO of the FC, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie and Special Education Needs Coordinator of GIS, Angel Van Der Puije planted the first three trees to start the exercise supported by junior staff of Vodafone Ghana Head Office, students of GIS and staff of FC.

As part of the exercise, Vodafone Ghana gave each staff who participated in the exercise five trees to plant in their homes as part of the company’s commitment to protect the environment.

Speaking at the programme, the CEO of FC, Mr Afriyie said trees created an important role in the ecology of any country.

He explained that trees served as carbon sink and absorbed poisonous gases from the environment, stressing that if the last tree died, no human being would survive on earth.

Mr Afriyie described the exercise as laudable and commended Vodafone Ghana for embarking on the tree planting exercise on a Chocolate (Valentine) day in the Achimota Forest.

“There is no love better than Vodafone Ghana planting trees to protect the environment on a Chocolate day,” he said.

The FC CEO said Vodafone Ghana had been allocated with 15 acres of land in the Achimota Forest to plant trees in the next two years and appealed to corporate organisations to emulate the example of Vodafone Ghana and partner the FC to plant trees across the country.

The CEO of Vodafone Ghana, Mrs Obo-Nai in her remarks said “showing love to the environment was a key priority to her outfit.

“Protecting and taking care of the environment is one of the key pillars in the operations of Vodafone Ghana,” she said.

She said more than 3000 trees would be planted by Vodafone Ghana staff across the country in the next two years as part of the company’s commitment to promote better ecology of the country.

“We in Vodafone Ghana are not only concerned about profits, but pursuing initiatives that will help preserve the environment,” she said.

Mr Puije for her part said the youth was pushing the world leaders and global bodies to initiative programmes to preserve the environment.

She said the pupils and students of GIS were also concerned about the environment and that was the reason why they joined the tree planting exercise in the Achimota Forests.

Some of the tree species planted ofram, baobab, mahogany and eucalyptus.

By Kingsley Asare