‘Nigeria forests cover less than 6 percent’

The minister, who made the pledge during a visit to the department to get first hand information on all the departments and agencies in the ministry, noted that without proper management of the forests, Nigeria would become a desert.
She noted: “The forestry department is very important in the ministry. We shall do everything possible to support the works of this department to enable it give qualitative service to our great country Nigeria.”
She said the ministry must tap into the technical know how of staff of the forestry department to benefit from their wealth of knowledge.
Mrs. Laurentia Mallam stated that her visit to the department which is the oldest department in the ministry, would go a long way in creating a better understanding of the strategic role played by the department.
The Director of Forest Management, Mr. Simon Adedoyin, in his welcome address disclosed that part of the mandate of the department is to ensure “nationwide afforestation and reforestation towards increasing the forest cover in the country from less than 6 per cent to 25 per cent of total land mass as recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), thereby mitigating the effects of climate change, desertification, flooding, erosion as well as provision of raw materials for the wood and non – wood forest industries.”
He added that the department also “ facilitated the passage of the National Biosafety Bill  which is currently being reviewed by the National Assembly; implementation of the first phase of the Presidential Initiative on Afforestation (PIA) for economic and environmental sustainability and assisted State Forest Services in the development of management plans for selected forest reserves and wetlands like in Amboi/Baissa Forest Reserve in Taraba State, Omo Forest Reserve in Ogunkoya State, Oguta Lake in Imo State and Lower Niger – Upper Kaduna Wetland in Kwara State.”