Kofi Boakye-Yiadom: A Successful And Brilliant Young Ghanaian Green Entrepreneur

A cycling enthusiast and passionate lover of nature, green entrepreneur Kofi Boakye-Yiadom, is a shining example to Ghana's younger generation.

His business shows how the conservation of nature can create jobs for many Ghanaians and wealth for green entrepreneurs - and serve the common good at the same time.

Kofi has created a unique urban haven for birds, insects,  as well as other fauna and flora centred in the Legon Botanical Gardens, to which the public has access - on the left side of  the road leading to the Kwabenya Atomic Energy Commission campus of the University of Ghana's Graduate School of Nuclear & Allied Sciences, from Atomic junction, off the Accra-Aburi highway.

Affable and loved by many because of his generous-spiritedness and sunny nature, Kofi has a wide circle of friends who are  very much like  him - kind souls who enjoy life and  use their passion for cycling and conservation to help Ghana's younger generations  develop into lovers of nature, and, hopefully, become tomorrow's crop of environmental activists.

District Assemblies across Ghana looking for additional revenue-generating sources ought to  partner green companies such as Kofi's Pine Springs Limited to create similar nature resource-reserves, which can help educate young people across Ghana -  by serving as living laboratories for biodiversity research: and make them understand the crucial importance of preserving what is left of our nation's natural heritage.

We have culled and posted below, an interesting  historical acccount of how Kofi's green enterprise was born in his own words below, for our readers, and for Accra's many nature lovers who are yet to discover what is a heavenly green-haven in our nation's capital city.

Please read on:

 "LEGON BOTANICAL GARDENS

The Legon Botanical Gardens is a functional part of the Faculty of Science of the University of Ghana, Legon.

The Garden was developed for research and educational use for the Department of Botany, one of the foremost departments to be set-up when the University Collage of Gold Coast, now, the University of Ghana was established in 1948.

The Department is an ideal place for students with interest in Biological Sciences to learn and acquire skills in plant and fungal Biology in order to function effectively in society.

The Gardens covers a total area of 49,871 hectares. Indicated below are notable sections:

The Fire Belt

The Rock Garden

The Arboretum

The Vaughan Dam

The Woodlands

The Royal Palm Avenue, and other road passes

Worthy of mention is the Nursery and Green Houses which is for propagating plants for growing out and sale to the general public.

Following from a Public-Private Agreement signed in March 2005 between the University of Ghana and Pine Springs Limited, 5,750 hectares of the Gardens was set-aside for development as a Commercial and Recreational enclave within the Garden. This agreement was a-dream-come for Mr. Kofi Boakye Yiadom who has haboured this vision from his childhood days.

With the main entrance sited along the Haatso-Atomic Road, portions of the Recreational Enclave has been developed into open and shaded spaces for Corporate Outdoor Events, Picnics, Funfairs and other Social Engagements.

The lush green trees surrounding the Vaughan Dam serves as a habitat for birds and other fauna. It is a lovely spectacle to behold when these birds return from their daily sojourn to settle for the night.

With an island almost rising up in the middle section, a peninsular projecting on the opposite side, the Vaughan Dam is really nature’s treasure trove.

Nestled in the trees and circumventing the Vaughan Dam is the 110 meter-long Canopy Walkway. On the Walkway, you gain a panoramic of the University of Ghana to as far as the Great Hall.

 Of memorable interest to children and parents alike is the expansive 2000 square-metre play area. The Playground is fitted with high quality Zip lines, Multi Activity Tower Play Sets, Bird Nest Swings, Pyramid Rope Net Climber, Carousel, Rotating Merry Go-Round, Solo Mobile See Saw, and a variety of other interesting play equipment.

 Rising high into the sky and situated beyond the Playground is the 12 meter-tall High Rope Courses. You can reach the ISO Certified Rope Courses via a 30 inch long wood-decked bridge. There is a total of 52 games equally shared between the lower and upper levels. All the four routes on the Rope Courses has a 50 meter long Zip line.

Such is the forest in the Centre of Accra with an amazing array of fauna and flora and well-connected roads for biking/walking."

End of Kofi Boakye-Yiadom's up-to-date  personal account  of the begining of Pine Spring Limited's public private partnership (PPP) with the University of Ghana, Legon, which  has today resulted in the marvellous opportunity his green enterprise  has created for many of Accra's residents - especially the city's children - to commune with Mother Nature and enjoy the experience without having to travel to the Ghanaian countryside to do so. Brilliant.