By Abdulrahman Abdullahi
The Kano State Government says it will introduce Forestry Law to check indiscriminate felling of trees, conserve forest resources and protect the environment.
The state Commissioner for Environment, Dr Kabiru Getso, stated this in an interview on Wednesday, March 31, 2021 in Kano, the state capital.
Getso said the new law was imperative to control deforestation and conserve forest resources towards achieving greener and healthy environment in the state.
He said that the ministry had concluded work on the draft bill and referred it to stakeholders to enable them contribute to the bill.
“That is to conserve forestry investment and infrastructure; our plants are at risk of extinction because of indiscriminate felling and harvesting of trees.
“What the state government has done through the Ministry of Environment is to come up with a State Forestry Law.
“The National Forestry Law is obsolete; it has been established many decades ago, there is need to review it. And, we do not have such law in the state.
“So, what we are trying to do is to have the enabling law in place, the draft is ready, it has been shared with relevant stakeholders.
“When it is passed into law; it will go a long way in addressing some of the challenges especially felling trees, we will also have the strength to conserve wildlife especially the engendered plant species.”
According to him, the draft bill will be submitted to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje for approval and onward transmission to the State House of Assembly for legislation.