Ogun generates N430m from forest reserves, cultivates plantations

The Ogun State government, through the ministry of forestry, has generated N430 million from the exploitation of timber and non-timber forest resources, just as it raised 221,500 teak and gmelina seedlings, and cultivated 137 hectares of teak and gmelina plantations.

It also made about N46.2 million from the sales of 31,364 stumps of gmelina, just as it has moved to resuscitate the state-owned Gateway Timber Industry Limited, a wood conversion arm of government forest project through Public Private Partnership (PPP) for efficiency and sustainability.

Speaking at the ongoing 2014 Ogun State Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing in Abeokuta, Adebayo Fari, commissioner for forestry, submitted that the ministry had, in the last one year, put in place measures to ensure controlled and orderly exploitation of timber and non-timber forest resources as well as to prevent soil and environmental degradation.

Government does not only have interest in what it generates from state forest reserves and resources, but also has special interest in preventing rampaging natural disasters and mitigate global warming and climatic change, Fari said, explaining that government is regenerating forest reserves and distributing free tree seedlings to residents to encourage trees planting.

He said government was able to coppice about 300 hectares of tree plantations in Omo and Olokemeji forest reserves to complement the regeneration programme of state government in addition to massive planting of tree seedlings in the state under the national afforestation programme funded by the Ecological Fund Office, Abuja, in conjunction with the state government.

Speaking on government’s effort to check financial leakages in its forest reserves during year under review, Fari said the introduction of automation for logging operations had helped in blocking revenue leakages in forest reserves, adding that biometric data capturing of property hammers – timber contractors, had really helped in curbing illegal timber operations.

“In a bid to reduce illegal operations in our forest estates to the barest minimum, the ministry constituted two special task force teams to complement the efforts of the central log control team. These various teams carried out aggressive monitoring and patrol on regular basis.

“Also, the present administration decided to capture the biometric data and other necessary information of property hammer holders in the state and store the information electronically. This has greatly yielded positive result,” he said.

RAZAQ AYINLA