By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Following the commemoration of international Day of Forest, Gov. Duoye Diri of Bayelsa has banned logging and other deforestation activities.
Diri also directed all commercial timber dealers to obtain permit from the Ministry of Environment henceforth, before embarking on logging activities.
He said that the ban is a part of efforts to protect the state’s forest reserves and rare plant species.
The governor announced this in Yenagoa on Tuesday at a ceremony to mark this year’s International Day of Forests.
He called for a fresh bill to repeal obsolete environmental laws, and directed the environment ministry and civil society groups to work with his office to prepare and send such bill to the House of Assembly.
The governor, who frowned at the use of dynamites by fishermen, also directed that the bill should make the use of explosives on the state’s waterways an offence.
Diri said that his government which preaches prosperity, should not fold its arms and watch forests in the state degraded.
He urged the Commissioner for Environment to reform the forest guards and deploy them to their respective local government areas to ensure effective protection of the reserves.
The governor also granted the request by the ministry of environment to adopt six proposed forest reserves in the state.
The Commissioner for Environment, Mr Iselema Gbaranbiri, had earlier explained that the International Day of Forests was declared by United Nations General Assembly to raise awareness on the importance of forests for the benefit of all generations.
Gbaranbiri noted that healthy forests influence the quantity of water yielded from watersheds, and provide logs, firewoods, fodder and medicinal plants used by local and indigenous communities.