Chairman Board of Trustees of the Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN), Chief James Bola Odebiyi, Monday, tasked governments in Nigeria to embark on aggressive tree planting across the country.
Speaking on the International Day of Forests after concluding the association’s 43rd annual conference, Chief Odebiyi said this is necessary to reduce the impact on global warming on the country due to the deleterious effects of deforestation.
Chief Odebiyi added that there is also the need for the government to also rescue Nigeria’s forest estate from the hands of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists.
The FAN BoT chairman stated that Nigeria as a country should jettison the jamboree which consumed the initiative of the association towards tree planting and be deliberate about it in order to ensure sustainable development.
According to Chief Odebiyi, “The continuous rise in world population every year and the evil of human activities in the form of deforestation and pollution have made it difficult for the world community to observe the activities of every individual and the issue has always been of concern and provocative”.
President of the association, Alhaji Ahmad Rufai Ibrahim, while speaking said: “Insecurity is affecting research and legitimate activities in the forest estates of Nigeria as hoodlums have taken over, urging government on need to rescue and reclaim it from criminals.
Alhaji Ibrahim stated that:” A dangerous trend that has bedeviled our forest estate today is the issue of insecurity in our forests.
“It started gradually in 2003 and today has become a hydra-headed monster that has made our forests worse-off. Our researchers could no longer access and the legal activities could not take place because hoodlums have taken over the forest estates,” he said.
