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Evergreen Club of Ghana (ECOG)
started in 1987 as an informal neighborhood tree planting initiative
with school children from Burma Camp, a suburb of Accra, Ghana, and was
aimed primarily at beautifying a few cluster of school compounds. It was
known variously as “Tree Planting Children” or “Tree Planting Club”.
Due to the enthusiasm shown by the children, teachers, and some parents,
the activities of the Club spread to many schools and took different
dimensions, notably, regular environmental education session, seminars
and Eco-tourism with the school children on weekends and during school
vacation.
By the middle of 1989, news about the Club was beginning
to move beyond its locality as some media personnel took interest and started
questioning why it was not being expanded beyond its locality (Burma Camp).
Meanwhile, the then Executive Chair of the Environmental Protection Council (now
Agency), Lt. Col. Christine Debrah (Rtd.), heard about the Club and invited the
founder/leader, Ms Sakeena K. Bonsu for discussion on how the Club’s activities
could be institutionalized for the benefit of more children, youth and the
general public.
Yet, interested and committed as Sakeena was in the
voluntary work she was engaged in with the neighborhood school children, the
desire to formally found an organization was highly unlikely. She had her family
and career, as a professional public servant, to which she was very committed.
Lt. Col. Debrah however kept feeding Sakeena with information on the
environment, and encouraging the formation of an NGO for youth and children,
which, she insisted was very necessary for the future of environmental
protection and sustainable development in Ghana.
Sakeena’s interest in environment continued to grow as
she read more about the existing and emerging problems and what others were
doing to protect the environment. She read about people like Wangari Mathai of
the Greenbelt Movement of Kenya, Gro Harlem Bruntland of Norway and programmes
and activities of institutions like the UNEP and the Worldwide Women in
Environment and Sustainable Development etc. At the same time the school
children also insisted on coming for more doses of tree planting, environmental
education and excursions to places of ecological interest. They just will not
give up even when the adult members were slowing down.
After a series of consultations with teachers and
other members of the Burma Camp tree planting initiative, it was agreed that an
NGO should be formed and so on 7th July 1990, the club was formally registered
as an NGO with the Registrar General’s Department of Ghana with an adult
membership of about 20 people including 5 executive members and a student
population of about 200 children.
TARGET GROUP
ECOG believes very
much in the tremendous potential of the youth and children (creators of better
tomorrow) which if appropriately harnessed could help create the awareness and
right attitude towards protection, maintenance of a clean and healthy
environment and sustainable development.
ECOG has therefore identified the youth and children
as major target groups, among the various publics, for its environmental
awareness creation and education programmes as well as engaging them in
practical tree growing activities.
STAFFING AND STRUCTURE OF ECOG
Currently ECOG has a six (6) member board of directors at the helm of its
affairs, a five member management team, two permanent office staff and National
Service Personnel manning the National Secretariat and is supported at the base
by Regional/District and School Co-ordinators.
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EVERGREEN CLUB OF
GHANA
