2 January 2009
Lagos — Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State has assured the people of the state that his administration will enforce the forestry law of the state in order to put a stop to wanton bush burning and illegal felling of trees.
Sylva, who gave the assurance at the flag-off ceremony of the state Tree Planting Campaign in Yenagoa recently, said that the enforcement of this law will check the activities of timber merchants.
The governor noted that his administration appreciates the importance of maintaining the forest and its bio-diversity which, according to him, were renewable sources of wealth in the area of tourism, food supply, fuel and timber as well as the protection of the environment from the ever-growing threat of green house effect.
According to him, "it is against this background that the forestry department of the state Ministry of Environment would establish a tree nursery and plantation programme next year to provide seedlings for plantation development in the state."
While soliciting the support of both the private and public sectors in the drive for afforestation and reforestation, the governor urged Chairmen of the various local government areas to replicate the tree planning exercise in their respective Local Government Areas.
He also enjoined Bayelsans to plant a minimum of one tree in their various residences so that the fading glory of the natural endowment of the Niger Delta ecosystem could be restored.
Speaking at the occasion, the State Environment Commissioner, Mrs. Victoria Denenu, decried the indiscriminate felling of trees in the state, noting that about one million trees have been destroyed in the state since 1996.
According to Denenu, Nigeria's forest estate had been diminishing by 3.5 per cent per annum which implied that Bayelsa eco system was currently shrinking at an unprecedented rate of 169.75 square kilometers annually.
The commissioner who noted that Bayelsa State was fast becoming a wood deficient state said if the trend was not checked, the state may begin to import wood from neighbouring states by the year 2020.
She called for conscientious efforts by all levels of government to revert the trend, noting that as part of efforts to restore the dwindling forest reserves, the state is to raise 1.5 million leaf seedlings in this year's tree planting campaign.
Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Ayebaemi Spiff who enumerated the benefits of trees to humanity stressed the need for the planting of trees that are indigenous and appropriate for the environment.
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