How Ghanaian School Children are Combating Environmental Degradation through Art

The Talensi District in Ghana’s Upper East Region is experiencing a positive turn in the fight against environmental degradation. Thanks to an environmental-focused organization, the Forum for Natural Regeneration (FONAR), pupils from 15 basic schools in the district have proposed practical solutions through arts to mitigate the effects of environmental destruction on livelihoods and natural resources.

At an exhibition and awards ceremony held at Gbeogo, the pupils displayed a deep understanding of environmental issues such as tree felling, illegal mining, and bush burning, which are the main causes of environmental destruction. Through posters and drawings, they demonstrated the negative effects of such activities on the climate and natural resources, and suggested creative solutions that stakeholders can adopt to address the menace.

The event was organized under the theme, “Our Environment is Our Lives,” which aimed to train the school children to become agents of environmental protection. The children were educated on environmental issues, discussed the repercussions of environmental destruction among themselves, their teachers, and community members. They were then encouraged to contribute to finding sustainable solutions to the problem.

The Forum for Natural Regeneration (FONAR) is an environmental organization that advocates the adoption of the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) with funding support from the Awaken Trees Foundation of Austria. The FMNR’s approach is a cost-effective landscape restoration technique that has the ability to regreen the environment faster.

Mr. Sumaila Saaka, the Executive Director of FONAR, expressed the need to engage children in building community resilience to climate change and environmental stressors through ecosystem restoration. He encouraged the Government to integrate the FMNR strategy into the Green Ghana Project to restore degraded lands in northern Ghana.

For the most part, the event was a success, and the Deputy Talensi District Director in charge of Human Resource, Ghana Education Service, lauded FONAR and its partners for instilling environmental protection issues in the children. He noted that the survival of humans on earth was dependent on a variety of flora and fauna, of which trees formed an essential part, and encouraged communities to desist from activities that had detrimental effects on the environment.

Excessive bush burning was identified as the biggest threat to regeneration efforts in the area, adversely affecting food production and economic trees such as shea. Therefore, the Chief of Pwalugu-Balungu, Naba John Attiah, urged stakeholders to find sustainable solutions to the challenge.

Source: GNA