The Forum for Natural Regeneration (FONAR), an environmentally focused non-governmental has donated essential equipment to basic school children in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region to support environmental conservation efforts and encourage the practice of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR).
The donation, which valued at GHS36,000.00 had funding from the Heidehof Foundation of Germany and the Awaken Trees Foundation of Austria.
The items included 80 cutlasses, 80 punning sickles, 80 pairs of Wellington boots, 90 pairs of hand gloves and 200 pieces of branded T-shirts.
Additionally, the gesture included eight pairs of Wellington boots and 30 pieces of T-shirts for their teachers.
The support which benefitted eight schools was under the “Regreening Communities through school kids FMNR Eco-clubs in Talensi District of Upper East Region, Northern Ghana project.”
Mr Sumaila Issaka, Executive Director FONAR, noted that the support was aimed at equipping the young learners with the necessary resources and tools to actively engage in sustainable land restoration and biodiversity protection in their schools.
FMNR is a low-cost land restoration technique that helps regenerate trees and vegetation through natural processes, promoting climate resilience and improving soil fertility.
Over the few years, FONAR and its partners had been engaging basic school children in the Talensi District with the aim of empowering them to protect the environment through the FMNR approach.
Apart from capacity building training organised for the school children and their teachers known as coordinators, FONAR and its partners had also developed a curriculum on the FMNR approaches and distributed to the schools.
At a brief ceremony to hand over the tools to the schools in Tongo, the Executive Director, emphasised the importance of engaging young people in environmental conservation, stressing that instilling in the children the spirit of environmental protection was the way to securing sustainable future.

“For us the best way of changing attitudes and protecting our environment is through the children” he said.
“Education is the most powerful tool of change and that is why we are training the school children and their teachers on the FMNR approach to protect the environment.”
Mr Saaka acknowledged tree planting initiatives as good interventions to restoring the degraded lands but noted that such initiatives were expensive while the survival rate was low due to high temperatures and lack of sustainable water in many communities.
“The current government’s afforestation initiative (Tree for Life) is good, but the focus is always on tree planting, and we know over the years that if tree planting was the solution by now all our degraded lands would have been resolved.
“Tree growing should not just be only about tree planting but should include managing those that are already in existence, particularly native trees so that they can grow into bigger trees and serve the purpose of the communities and the schools.
“So, we are calling on the government that as part of the Tree for Life initiative and any other afforestation reforestation project that the government undertakes, it should consider FMNR as a very critical and important part of them particularly in Northern Ghana where we have prolonged dry season and the climate change is changing”, he said.
Madam Christiana Ayinezoya Azure, the Talensi District Director of the Ghana Education Service, lauded the initiative, adding that since its implementation, the project had inculcated in the children the culture of environmental responsibility and it was helping to keep the school and community environment protected.
The District Director who highlighted the impact such interventions could have in addressing climate change and environmental degradation stated that “this donation will not only enhance practical learning in our schools but also instill a culture of environmental responsibility among our children.”
The pupils who benefited from the donation also expressed their excitement and commitment to using the equipment effectively.
FONAR’s intervention aligns with national and global efforts to combat desertification, restore degraded lands, and promote sustainable agriculture, employing children as powerful tools and change agents.