By Muhammad Sani Abdulhamid
Bauchi State Government has been urged to provide adequate land for people interested in charcoal and timber businesses, to plant trees, raise and harvest them for their usage to avoid deforestation and desertification in the State.
This was among some of the solutions to the indiscriminate falling of trees outlined in a communique issued at the end of Stakeholders Engagement in Environmental Policies and Practices, organized by Sharing Education and Learning for Life (SELL) Foundation in Bauchi.
The communique signed by Polok Charles Livinus, said one of the problems facing the environmental sector in the state is poor forest management, which leads to deforestation and desert encroachment.
Other problems, the communique highlighted are non-implementation of Environmental Laws and policies, high cost of alternative domestic cooking energy, which leads to the cutting down of trees.
The communique stresses the need to plant more trees and nurture them to maturity, and agencies saddled with the responsibilities of safeguarding the forests should be proactive in the cost of protecting the forest.
The stakeholders said the state borders should be properly manned, to prevent people from coming to the state for the charcoal & timber business, while local communities should be supported to use alternative energy for domestic cooking as well as a campaign on tree planting, and environmental safety to nursery, primary and secondary schools to instill the orientation on environment on the young minds.
“CSOs Should intensify efforts on Sensitization and Advocacy on environmental safety, and the need to review the traditional approach to intervention. (E.g Instead of planting 1000 trees, plant 100 and nurture them to maturity)”
“Encourage establishment of Environmental clubs in schools and also Communities should form clusters to acquire land for raising of trees for business purposes”
The Director General of the Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency, BASEPA, Dr. Kabir Ibrahim, moderated the panel’s discussion, which consists of the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria, Bauchi State Ministry of Housing and Environment, National Agency for the Great Green Wall, Traditional Institutions, Academia, CSOs, and other relevant stakeholders.
