The Ministry of Environment Climate Change and Natural Resources with support from the Eco-System Based Adaptation Project (EbA) together with the Department of Forestry recently organized two days validation of the draft Forestry Policy.
The draft Forestry Policy will be implemented by the Department of Forestry, Dept of Parks and Wildlife including other stakeholders which includes community development and dept of agriculture. The event was attended by senior government officials with key stakeholders from the natural resource sector. It was held 30th to 1st of December at a local hotel in Senegambia.
The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment Mr Momodou Mbye Jabang, speaking at the event, raised concerns about the lack of forest parks within the urban areas, with the formulation of the new policy with great experts and knowledgeable veterans this new policy will be fully implemented.
The PS raised concerns about the lack of capacity within the forestry sector which is crucial. He urged stakeholders to implement policies that will redirect the government to take the right decision in the fight to mitigate climate change.
The Director of the Department of Forestry Mr Muhammed Jaiteh said that the Degradation of forests can have severe negative local impacts which include soil erosion. Urged forest communities scale up actions, through the holistic landscape-level restoration approaches balancing both socio-economic and environmental goals.
The demand for ecosystems services from the forest is increasing. we are challenged to strategically optimize our capacity and mitigate climate change, conserve biodiversity, safeguard wildlife habitat and protect land and watersheds.
Currently, we are anxious to manage our remaining dryland forest sustainably through participatory approaches by involving the rural forest-dependent communities private individuals to promote integrated forest management and landscaping approaches in the next decades.
