By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has called on the Bayelsa State and Federal Governments to strengthen the protection of the Obumanum Forest Reserve to safeguard biodiversity and preserve the environment for future generations.
The Project Manager of Fossil Politics at HOMEF, Mr Cadmus Otake-Ende, made the call at a community dialogue on accelerating nature and climate action to advance Nigeria’s net-zero and 30×30 targets in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Friday
Otake-Ende said the initiative aimed to sensitise communities around the forest reserve to the importance of conservation and secure their support for sustainable forest management.
He said the project would also promote community-based skills acquisition and business opportunities, with partners supporting activities that would provide sustainable livelihoods.
He added that the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) would lead another component of the initiative focused on forest restoration.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Obumanum Forest Reserve Environmental Protection and Management Committee, King Douglas Onungu, said inadequate government attention had left the reserve vulnerable to destruction.
Onungu, who is also the king of Igbika Ogbema Community in Nembe Local Government Area, said the absence of signposts identifying the area as a protected forest had encouraged people to disregard conservation efforts.
“People come in there and say they can kill wild animals because there is no signpost showing that it is a reserved forest,” he said.
He urged the state and federal governments to provide access roads and clearly mark the reserve to discourage encroachment and strengthen its protection.
Also speaking, the Vice Chairman of the Okoroba Community Development Committee, Mr Ayarite Ibika, commended HOMEF for engaging residents on environmental conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources.
A community leader, Mrs Susan Kilete, lamented the decline in wildlife populations, attributing it to human activities and environmental degradation.
She said wild animals that were once common in the area had become increasingly scarce, stressing the need for stronger conservation efforts.
