By Blessing Enagu
Informed by the urgent need for a Forest Policy - a guide for sustainable forest management in the State, Professional Staff of the Forestry Commission have reviewed draft of a proposed Forest Policy that will ensure sustainable increase in the economic, social and environmental benefits from forest for the present and future generations.
The review was carried out in the conference room of the Commission with staff making inputs targeted at addressing factors that affects the decline of forest resources, streamlining contribution of forests to economic development and growth as well as positioning the State to benefit from International Forest Policy initiatives.
Addressing Staff during the opening of a two-day review meeting, the Permanent Secretary of the Commission, Comrade Akpeh Ogon charged them to take the exercise very seriously for the benefit of the State, today and tomorrow.
He stated emphatically that over the years, most of the challenges faced by the Commission and the Forestry sector have been as a result of non-functional policy driving the forest sector and stressed that the exercise was imperative in order to abate illegalities in the Sector.
Comrade Ogon opined that with a forest policy in place, the much needed revision of the existing Cross River State Forest Law 2010 to reflect the new policy, can be undertaken.
Also, the Secretary of the technical working group for the policy review, who is equally the State Focal Person, Sustainable Fuel Wood Management (SFM) Project, Dr. Edu Effiom , recounted that the development of the policy began with a zero draft produced in 2014 by the State Forestry Commission board.
With support from UNDP, a ten-man Technical Working Group led by the Permanent Secretary, Forestry Commission was constituted in 2018 to review the zero draft which resulted in the first draft of the document.
Dr. Effiom remarked that UNDP has supported the state in delivering a strategy to reduce emission from deforestation and forest degradation, partnered Global Environment Facility in the ongoing SFM project and is also supporting the finalization of the State Forest Policy, adding that inputs into the policy is been received from forest communities and retired foresters in the State.
After the internal review by the Commission Staff, a wider stakeholders' review and validation would take place before the document would be sent to the State House of Assembly for legal process.
0 comments:
Post a Comment