Analysis of planting practices and stewardship intention of participants of Arbor Day

Arbor Day (World Tree Planting Day) is an action to help replace dwindling tree cover globally. However, millions of the seedlings planted do not survive because of low regard for best planting practices and post-planting maintenance activities. This study focused on the planting practices of Arbor Day participants at the Muni-Pomadze Ramsar Site in Ghana and how that influenced their perception about seedling survival rate and their stewardship intention. The study used electronic questionnaire to solicit information from 229 participants (university students) at a 2021 Arbor Day planting event organized by the Forestry Commission and the Department of Geography Education, University of Education, Winneba. The study found four components of planting practices influenced perceptions including assessment of seedling quality, soil characteristics, surrounding environmental characteristics and planting operation. A multivariate analysis of variance showed that the academic year of participants influenced planting practices specifically planting operations with a post hoc test indicating respondents in academic year 1 observed better planting operations than third year students. A generalized linear model showed that respondents who planted seedlings within areas with good surrounding characteristics (enough spacing between successive seedlings and trees) perceived seedlings survival rate to be higher. Respondents who planted more seedlings were likely to provide time and money for post-Arbor Day tree monitoring and maintenance. The findings also suggest that organizers of Arbor Day tree planting exercises should educate participants on proper planting practices and organize days for monitoring and maintenance of planted trees to improve participant perceptions and on-going involvement.