According to the 2021 population and housing census conducted, 71% of Ghanaians are classified as Christians and the remaining are distributed among other religions.
There are over 20,000 churches in Ghana. This refers not to the number of consecrated buildings, but faith-based groups claiming allegiance to Christianity.
In Ghana, there is a general impression created that Christians uphold holiness and faith-based living as evident in their weekly schedules such as prayers, bible studies, organization or departmental meetings as well as their music and costumes.
Ghana is among the 50 countries in the world with the highest diversity in plants and animal-based species. So far, about 3,000 indigenous plant species are in Ghana.
The dense forest zone formally covered an area of about 30,000 square miles but farming activities and timber exploitation have reduced it to less than 8000 square miles. Despite the laid out process of mining in Ghana’s mineral and mining act(Act 703), miners are compelled to bear a 60 to 80% licensing cost to operate illegally.
These miners employ technologies that are harmful to the environment and negatively impact the health of those involved. Other than people and God, trees are the most mentioned living things in the Bible.
Every major character or theological event has an association with a tree. The cedar(Cedrus) was the first citrus to be grown in Israel and King Solomon had majestic columns of cedar of Lebanon supporting the ceilings in the temple. The aloe vera plant is said to have been used by Nicodemus in embalming the body of Jesus after his death.
Trees have served as a remarkable symbol of faith in every Christian life. Christians believe God gave trees as part of natural resources to protect them and also aid in their existence and survival.
The Ghanaian Christians must protect the vegetation not for their own sake but as an obligation expected to be fulfilled by God. Ghana is battling a high rate of vegetative depletion and much of it can be ascribed to the irresponsible lumbering of timber by the indigenous people, clearing of land covers to build industries, prevalent illegal mining, and bushfires set by third-class citizens for survival purposes.
A study conducted indicated that over the past 24 years Ghana has recorded losses of 92.8%, 51.1%, and 41% on bear areas, grassland, and other vegetation land cover respectively.
This has led me to interrogate a lot of things about this nation being a Christian country. There is evidence that officials mostly apprehended for such detrimental acts against our vegetation have a sort of allegiance to a Christian organization.
I ask, should we have been a less Christian-dominated society, what legacy are we willing to pass on to the unborn generation because the larger percentage of citizens living in the country has a sort of allegiance to the Christian religion?
