MAREDES launches tree planting at St Joseph Technical School
The Marshallan Relief and Development Services (MAREDES), a not-for-profit wing of the Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall of the Catholic Church, has launched a tree planting exercise aimed at planting 50,000 tree seedlings at Saboba in the Northern Region.
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The initiative, undertaken at the St Joseph Technical School at Saboba, seeks to protect the school land from encroachment, restore depleting vegetation cover and help in the fight against climate change in the area.
The seedlings include Mahogany, acacia and teak.
The tree planting exercise formed part of activities to mark the centenary celebration of the Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall.
It is also in line with Pope Francis's care for the environment in his encyclical “Laudato si” and the Knights and Ladies of Marshall Afforestation Project at the St. Joseph Technical School.
Launch
Launching the exercise at Saboba last Friday, the Supreme Secretary of the Knights of Marshall, Worthy Brother Maurice Adu-Amankwah, on behalf of the President of MAREDES, Sir Knight Brother Richard Ayih-Akakpo, indicated that 13,500 seedlings were expected to be planted by the end of 2024 while the 50,000 target is expected to be undertaken by 2026.
He said over the last two years, the society had planted about 25,000 trees in the school to support care for the environment. He added that the school had enough land to plant the trees and was also very committed to protecting the land from encroachment and degradation.
Commendation
The Principal of the school, Maxwell Atingyena, commended MAREDES for the gesture, saying that the trees would help to address environmental challenges and protect the school land.
He indicated that the school had produced about 400 chairs and tables from trees that were planted some decades ago. "The school carpenters gave us the idea that we could get wood from some of the trees to help us solve part of our furniture challenges.
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Truly, we were able to produce about 400 desks for the students," he said. The Chaplain and Chairman of the tree planting committee, Rev. Fr James Yamba, assured that the trees would be properly nurtured and taken care of.
Inspection/donation
Aside from that, the society provided the school with an undisclosed amount of money to support fencing the seedlings to prevent animals from destroying them.
They also inspected some trees that were planted in the school two years ago and expressed satisfaction with the survival rate of the trees. In a related development, MAREDES donated a Polytank and GHS3,000 to the Nazareth for God's Children orphanage school at Sang.
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