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Obaseki seeks forest regeneration on World Environment Day

By Eniola Daniel
06 June 2022   |   2:43 am
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has called on civil society organisations, organised private sector, donor agencies and trade groups, to support ongoing reforms aimed at engendering

[FILES] Obaseki. Photo/ facebook/godwinobasekiofficial

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has called on civil society organisations, organised private sector, donor agencies and trade groups, to support ongoing reforms aimed at engendering forest regeneration in the state.

Obaseki made the call in commemoration of the World Environment Day marked every June 5 by the United Nations and its partners, in a statement signed by his media aide, Crusoe Osagie.

It reads: “Stakeholders must work together in Edo State to safeguard our environment against degradation and its associated threats. In commemoration of the World Environment Day, I urge stakeholders in the sector to support the state government reforms in engendering environmental sustainability.

“In the past six years, we have made concerted efforts to protect the environment and engender environmental sustainability through the implementation of novel policies and programmes. In partnership with private stakeholders, we have restored 218 hectares of forestland across the state, as part of our efforts to boost the state’s green economy.

“Also, as part of the Edo State Oil Palm Programme, investors are mandated to restore 20 per cent of the total land area allocated to them for plantation. We are working with stakeholders to plant ten million trees in Edo State, over the next decade.”

He further stated that the Edo State Parks and Garden Agency Bill and EdoState Forestry Commission Bill before the Edo State House of Assembly for consideration would assist the state’s inefficient management and preservation of the state’s forest assets, and in establishing a more serene and healthier environment through the maintenance of functional parks and gardens, as well as planting of trees.

Bassey regretted that at a time when people should check the exploitation of natural ecosystems and wasteful consumption, the world is rather investing in militarisation, warfare, and destruction.

“It is a good time to adopt ecocide as an international crime as a means of ensuring accountability for heinous ecological crimes, including those that have intergenerational implications. 

“We are living witnesses of the crimes committed in mining and oil fields as well as those committed in conflict zones. We must protect our biodiversity, reject species eroding genetic modifications of all sorts and support harmonious relationships with Nature.”

“As we celebrate the World Environment Day, we urge everyone to be eco-defenders, secure the environment, and by this secure our well-being and that of future generations. Let us care for the Earth as it is our Mother, not our enemy,” he said.

 

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