{"id":92065,"date":"2025-08-30T19:22:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T19:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92065"},"modified":"2025-08-30T19:22:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T19:22:44","slug":"parks-and-gardens-boss-calls-for-intentional-investment-in-green-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92065","title":{"rendered":"Parks and Gardens boss calls for intentional investment in green spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 11 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The Head of the Parks and Gardens Unit at the Office of the President, Edem Kojo Doe, has called for the urgent need for deliberate investment in Ghana\u2019s green spaces, describing his department as \u201ca critical key stakeholder in maintaining our environmental, economic, and social sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to JoyNews, Mr. Doe explained that the Department of Parks and Gardens is the only institution officially mandated by law to ensure that every green space in Ghana is properly maintained, executed, and sustained.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven under the law, before you build a house, you must consult Parks and Gardens officials to get the right plants and the right species to create the ambience you are looking for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Doe lamented the declining public awareness of the department\u2019s mandate, insisting that horticulture is often misunderstood as being about beauty alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot talk about environmental, economic, or social sustainability without Parks and Gardens. Green spaces are neutral spaces. When people gather in a park, nobody cares who is Ga, Ewe, Akan, Muslim, or Christian. They simply enjoy the space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also highlighted the vital role plants play beyond aesthetics.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you get food on your table, it takes a flower to pollinate your crops. Without pollination, there is no tomato, no garden egg, no fruit. Even the flowers people undermine have a critical role to play in the food we eat,\u201d Mr. Doe explained.<\/p>\n

On sustainable landscaping, Mr. Doe emphasized designing with nature rather than against it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment you design against nature, you create chaos\u2014flooding, destruction, and environmental challenges. Sustainable landscaping is about choosing the right plants for the right space, designing beyond beauty, and ensuring it lasts for generations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that plants also purify the air, reduce stress, and help people connect with nature.<\/p>\n

Despite preserving botanical gardens and tree-lined streets, Parks and Gardens faces severe underfunding and staffing shortages. The department, which once had 5,000 staff nationwide, now has fewer than 400, with a decade-long recruitment freeze worsening the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in the era of artificial intelligence, you still need people to tend and nurture green spaces. Gardening is not something AI can replace,\u201d Mr. Doe said.<\/p>\n

He traced part of the challenge to structural changes since independence. Originally a full ministry under Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, it now operates under the Ministry of Local Government, competing for limited funds with 261 assemblies.<\/p>\n

Mr. Doe argued that green spaces should be viewed as revenue-generating assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Anloga District develops just a one-acre green zone, that space can host weddings, outdooring ceremonies, or festivals. Even at \u20b51,000 per event, the district would generate steady income while creating jobs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He recommended policies requiring every Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assembly (MMDA) to maintain a Parks and Gardens office and integrate recreational grounds into local development plans.<\/p>\n

Mr. Doe encouraged households to take initiative in small-scale gardening.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need vast land. You can grow food and flowers in plastic containers, cocopeat, or sawdust. Instead of throwing plastics away, recycle them into containers for gardening,\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n

To achieve the green transformation seen in Singapore, Thailand, and the UK, Mr. Doe advocated for a consistent annual budget of \u20b510 million for Parks and Gardens, alongside gradual recruitment of young people into the sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cGardening is not an event; it is a process. If we want sustainability, we must be intentional\u2014just as we are intentional about health care and education,\u201d he stressed. <\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Mr. Doe highlighted new technologies supporting sustainable landscaping in Ghana.<\/p>\n

He noted that the country is losing fertile topsoil, but alternatives such as coconut peat, recycled materials, and hydroponics\u2014growing plants in water\u2014are already being adopted. Greenhouse farming, he added, can maximize yields on smaller plots.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ParksThe Head of the Parks and Gardens Unit at the Office of the President, Edem Kojo Doe, has called for the urgent need for deliberate investment in Ghana\u2019s green spaces, describing his department as \u201ca critical key stakeholder in maintaining our environmental, economic, and social sustainability.\u201d<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7621,1883,7622,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-edem-kojo-doe","category-national","category-parks-and-gardens","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}