Just as people become very alarmed whenever there is an incident of man slaughter, so must they be interested in how trees are slaughtered. This is because trees play very significant roles for the sustainable human environment.
Why am I saying this? A few days ago, some couple of mahogany trees had their ancient and beautiful lives ended within a matter of hours at the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, off Haatso Road in Accra. When our reporters got there, they were told the exercise is to pave way for some beautification exercise. Could anything more beautiful than the stretch of natural mahogany of trees we can see? One might not know the rational for seeking a more critical attention on the cutting down of ‘mere’ trees. View Photos
Mahogany according to research has a perennial lifespan. These mahogany trees are a perennial woody plant with a minimum height specification at maturity varying from 3 m to 6 m with some set at a minimum of 10 cm trunk diameter (30 cm girth). Compared with most other plants, mahogany trees are long-lived, some of them getting to be several thousand years old and growing to up to 115 m (375 ft) high.
A view of the canopy of trees before some were cut.
Trees are an important component of the natural landscape because of their prevention of erosion and the provision of a specific weather-sheltered ecosystem in and under their foliage. Trees have also been found to play an important role in producing oxygen and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as moderating ground temperatures.
They are also significant elements in landscaping and agriculture, both for their aesthetic appeal and their orchard crops (such as apples). Wood from trees is a common building material. This shows that these trees could have been planted about six decades ago and would never have died but for the serious damage inflicted on them.
Can one imagine when again the trees will be restored to its fullest? It is very disheartening for things of this nature to happen in contemporary Ghana where global warming is presupposed to be in the heart of development issues. The Ghana Parks and Gardens, the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Rural Development and Environment must tell us if their job does not include keeping the lives of these trees.
Attempts to get the view of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences proved futile. Meanwhile, we are still pursuing the matter, till we come out with an authentic reason for ending the lives of the trees, especially when the Foundation for Female Photojournalists (FFP) learnt that more trees will be cut down as time goes on
