At Bawku Senior High, a headmaster returns to the trees he planted as a student
Some of the trees shading Bawku Senior High School were planted by Reverend Abugbilla Bukari and his fellow students.
Bukari arrived at the school in 1991. The following year, the headmaster who admitted him, the late B.J.L. Kumasi, led students in planting trees for what became known as the Kumasi Woodlot. Bukari said it was the school’s first deliberate effort to establish a woodlot on campus since it was founded in 1963.
“I still remember some of the trees I personally planted,” he said. “They are standing today as a testament to the work we did under his leadership.”
The effort brought the school national recognition. In 1992, it received a national tree-planting award, Bukari recalled. He remembers the celebration that followed, with truckloads of rice, cooking oil and sardines arriving, and the students were fed for nearly a month.
More than three decades later, Bukari returned to Bawku SHS as its substantive headmaster in 2024. He saw the appointment as a chance to continue the tradition that had shaped his own appreciation of trees.
That year, students and staff, led by the Agriculture Department, planted 480 Acacia trees on campus. The school says 450 have survived, a survival rate of about 94 per cent.
“It is a wonderful feeling,” Bukari said of standing under trees he helped plant as a student. The older trees provide shade and fresh air and have beautified the school, he said. He hopes students who leave Bawku SHS will return decades from now and find that the number of trees has grown.
Students learn by planting
The 2024 planting gave students a chance to take part directly in establishing the new trees and to consider what trees contribute to their school.
A final-year agriculture student, Ahmed Faizatu Akudugu, said the trees create places for recreation and help make the campus more comfortable. “They provide spaces for recreation, beautify the school environment and help regulate temperatures on the campus,” she said.
Another student also in an agriculture class, Asianib Elizabeth Apoasaan, said she was excited to take part. “We planted the trees for several reasons. First, they provide spaces for recreation. Second, they contribute to efforts to address climate change by helping to improve the environment,” she said.
Apoasaan thanked the headmaster for encouraging the programme and said she hoped future students would value the trees. “We hope that students who come after us will also appreciate and learn from what we have started,” she said.
Head of the school’s Agriculture Department, Awini Bashiru Issah, said students gain practical knowledge by taking part in the work. “The students contribute labour to the exercise, but, more importantly, they gain practical experience in planting trees. They learn by doing, which helps them understand the process and appreciate its importance,” he said.
Issah said schools have a role in preparing young people to continue that work. “They are the generation that will take over from us, and we must equip them with the knowledge, practical skills and commitment to continue planting and protecting trees for the benefit of future generations,” he said.
A school planting in Ghana’s national tree-growing effort
Bawku SHS planted in 2024, the same year Ghana held its fourth Green Ghana Day. The government launched the Green Ghana Project in 2021 to encourage tree planting and help restore forest cover. The 2024 national target was 10 million seedlings; the Forestry Commission later reported distributing about 13.9 million seedlings for planting.
The government has continued that restoration drive through the Tree for Life Reforestation Initiative, launched in 2025 to restore degraded landscapes, including areas affected by deforestation and illegal mining. The Information Services Department reported that the programme planted about 31 million seedlings in 2025 and restored approximately 23,600 hectares.
Bawku SHS’s experience shows what the national effort depends on at the local level: students and staff planting trees, the school caring for them, and practical protection to help them grow.
The climate value and the limits of planting
Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and store carbon in their trunks, branches and roots. On a school campus, they also provide shade and can make outdoor spaces more comfortable. Bawku SHS students say the trees help regulate campus temperatures and improve the grounds.
Those benefits matter in a country facing rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns. The Ghana Meteorological Agency’s Climate Atlas projects that Ghana’s average annual temperature will rise by about 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century under its RCP 4.5 scenario. The agency also projects seasonal rainfall changes, even as total annual rainfall is expected to remain broadly stable.
Tree planting alone cannot reverse climate change. Location, species, and follow-up care matter, too. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says reforestation can support climate mitigation and ecosystem functions, while poorly planned projects can harm biodiversity, water security and other local priorities.
At Bawsco, all 480 trees planted in the recent exercise are Acacia. Their survival is an encouraging early measure. Authorities say continued monitoring will show whether they thrive through changing seasons and what care they need.
Protecting the woodlot
Bukari said livestock sometimes enter the school grounds and threaten the young trees. “In about two to three months, the surrounding vegetation will become bare, and animals will be attracted to the green trees on our campus. They may feed on or damage them,” he said.
The school is seeking a perimeter wall. Bukari said GETFund officials measured the proposed wall at about 3.29 kilometres and awarded a contract. He appealed for the work to proceed: “The project requires government support. A contract has been awarded, but I am appealing through your media platform for the contractor to move to the site and complete the work to the required standard.”
“The wall will help protect the trees, as well as lives and property within the school,” he said.
Bukari is also concerned about what forest loss could mean for the school’s future fuel supply. “If the current trend continues, we may struggle to find enough trees for firewood in the future,” he said. He hopes the woodlot can be managed sustainably and help provide fuel for the school kitchen when needed, alongside a transition to biogas and other alternatives.
He sees the planting effort as part of a responsibility shared across Ghana. “Our efforts are not only for Bawku Senior High School. We see tree planting as a national responsibility,” he said. He believes the country’s more than 700 senior high and technical schools could help grow the next generation of trees.
Bukari hopes students who leave Bawku SHS will return in 30 years and find the number of trees has grown significantly.
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