Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, yesterday, inaugurated Edo State Forestry Commission with a 10-year restoration and plantation strategy to tackle deforestation, forest degradation and develop the state’s forest assets.
 
The governor said the commission, which was set up in line with the Edo State Forestry Commission law, was conceived to sustain and secure forest reserves and wildlife resources for future generations. 
 
Speaking at the inauguration, which held at Okomu National Park in Udo, Ovia South West Council, he decried the loss and degradation of forest lands over the years, declaring that the commission would reverse the trend and harness forest and wildlife resources to promote conservation of the ecosystem.  
 
“We are fortunate in Edo because forestry management started here almost 100 years ago and we still have documents in our archives to show that. As far back as the 1920s, forest reserves were created and were managed under a 50-year felling circle, which means that if you are giving concession to log in that area, you are not allowed to come back to that area for another 50 years, you go somewhere else because you have to regrow that place where you cut those trees. 
 
“We have always had this history of managing our forest even as late as 1995, we had a third working cycle, where we planted for another 25 years, but as I speak today, the government I came to meet, there was nothing about planning for forestry. There was nothing about sustainability,”Obaseki said. 
 
Conservator General, National Park Service, Ibrahim Musa, who was represented by Kabiru Mohammed, said the Commission would play pivotal role in promoting sustainable use of forests, combating the threat of deforestation and the menace of illegal logging.