Reverend Abugbilla Bukari returned to Bawku Senior High School in 2024 as its substantive headmaster, a role he once held as a student in 1991. He recalled the 1992 tree‑planting campaign led by former headmaster B.J.L. Kumasi, which earned the school a national tree‑planting award and brought truckloads of rice, cooking oil and sardines to celebrate.
Under Bukari’s leadership, students and staff planted 480 Acacia trees in 2024, with 450 surviving—a 94% survival rate. He said, "It is a wonderful feeling," standing under the trees he helped plant as a student. The trees now provide shade, fresh air and a beautified campus environment.
Students highlighted the benefits: final‑year agriculture student Ahmed Faizatu Akudugu noted the trees create recreation spaces and help regulate campus temperatures, while fellow student Asianib Elizabeth Apoasaan added they aid climate change mitigation. Agriculture Department head Awini Bashiru Issah emphasized the practical learning students gain from planting.
Bawku SHS’s 2024 planting coincided with Ghana’s fourth Green Ghana Day and the Tree for Life Reforestation Initiative launched in 2025, which has planted about 31 million seedlings nationwide. The school’s efforts illustrate the national restoration drive’s reliance on local participation.
Bukari warned that livestock can threaten young trees and has appealed for a 3.29‑kilometre perimeter wall to protect the campus. He said,
"The wall will help protect the trees, as well as liv...
With climate projections showing a 1.5°C rise in Ghana’s average temperature by century’s end, the school’s tree‑planting initiative offers both ecological and educational benefits that may inspire future generations to continue the work.
