Banjul — The village of Galleh Manda in CRD recently hosted Joint Forest Park Management (JFPM) signing ceremony for Medina Demba and kunkilling forest parks, where twenty villages adjacent to the state forest parks and the Forestry Department entered into agreement for sustainable management of the forest parks.

According to Robert Boyker, Coordinator, Gambia Forestry Communication Concept (GFCC), the signing of a management agreement is part of the initial phase of JFPM. He said forest parks are state forests that were demarcated since 1950's with the objective of securing a permanent forest cover.

'In order to achieve the most effective and sustainable management of the forest parks, and to share the benefits and responsibilities, the concept of JFPM was developed to involve adjacent villages in the actual management of the park', he said.

Accordingly, he said the uniqueness of each forest parks requires that individual management plans should be developed through the collaboration of the adjacent communities and the Forestry Department.

The Medina Demba and kunkilling forest parks, which have a nationwide management goal within the framework of the agreement were the first parks to enter into JFPM agreements involving several village.