CLIMATE CHANGE: A LIFESTYLE MANAGEMENT CRISIS

It is interesting to note that society speaks of climate change and industrialisation and yet most homes in Accra and elsewhere in Ghana today have reduced their lawns to flower pots, covered their compounds with concrete and automobile ownership is considered a desperate necessity. Architects and city planners have resorted to planting trees along major streets which in the interim reduce visibility on some streets when driving whilst new estates are being built without much thought to plant trees on their compounds. This is a major shift from what used to be the case as we compare old communities like North Ridge and Cantonments to the more recent communities..

The question is whether planting trees is really such an extraordinary activity and what society can do to make it part of our lives again. We further ask whether any room has been made for flora in the millennium city project and what environmentalists are doing about the abuse of the efforts of horticulturists to green the cities.

A Rocha Schools clubs have been doing much to educate students and communities on the need to plant trees aside from our crops in the localities and on farms. The University of Cape Coast branch has adopted Apewosika, a suburb of Cape Coast, for their campaign whilst the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology branch is actively promoting Climate Stewards concept.

A lot still remains to be done but how willing are we to walk the talk? – By Michael Adjei