Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has reiterated Ghana’s commitment to advancing global efforts aimed at safeguarding ecosystems and promoting sustainable forest governance.
He has outlined a series of policy-driven interventions designed to combat deforestation and environmental degradation.
Addressing the 21st Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests in New York City, the Minister said Ghana’s environmental agenda is anchored on restoration, sustainable land use, legal timber trade, and strengthened enforcement mechanisms consistent with the objectives of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah highlighted the government’s “Tree for Life” restoration initiative as one of the country’s principal interventions toward reversing forest depletion and restoring degraded landscapes.
According to him, the initiative mobilised citizens, schools, businesses, and local communities to plant more than 30 million trees over the past year through reforestation, enrichment planting, and assisted natural regeneration programmes.
He announced that a new phase of the programme will commence from June 2 this year, coinciding with the onset of the major rainy season, with a target of planting an additional 30 million trees nationwide.
The Minister explained that Ghana’s broader forest governance framework is being implemented through strategic national programmes, including the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy and the Ghana Cocoa REDD+ Programme, which integrates sustainable agroforestry practices into cocoa production landscapes.
Under the REDD+ mechanism — developed within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — Ghana has pursued measures aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation while enhancing carbon stocks and improving livelihoods within forest-dependent communities.
“We have integrated native tree planting into the cocoa landscape to boost yields, strengthen farmer resilience, while still being able to lock in measurable carbon benefits,” the Minister stated.
Ghana remains one of the leading cocoa-producing countries implementing climate-smart cocoa systems under internationally recognised forest conservation frameworks.
The country’s Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme became the first in the world to receive results-based payments from the Green Climate Fund for verified emission reductions from forest protection activities.
Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah further noted that Ghana has intensified actions against illegal logging and illegal mining activities, both of which continue to pose significant threats to biodiversity, water bodies, and forest reserves across parts of the country.
He said government is also pursuing diversified forest financing mechanisms to support long-term sustainability objectives, stressing that environmental protection and economic resilience must advance concurrently.
In what he described as a major milestone in sustainable timber governance, the Minister referenced Ghana’s issuance of its first Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licence in August 2025, making Ghana the first African country and the second globally after Indonesia to issue FLEGT-licensed timber exports to the European market.
“That means every timber product we now ship to Europe carries verifiable proof of legality and sustainability. That is transparency, accountability, and Ghana leading by example,” he said.
The Minister emphasised that Ghana’s environmental policies are aligned with multilateral frameworks promoting restoration, biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and responsible natural resource governance.
“All these efforts align with the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030. We have demonstrated that restoration, protection and innovative financing mechanisms can work together in advancing sustainable development,” he added.
By Eric Yaw Adjei
