The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in Gombe State has commended the State Government for its recent initiative to tackle environmental degradation in the state.
Mr Ibrahim Kawu, the Acting State Coordinator of Gombe NESREA gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe, the state capital, on Friday, September 6, 2019.
Kawu said the effort of the state government in planting trees and establishing woodlots would help in making up for the depletion of the environment over time, adding that Gombe had lost lots of trees.
“I must commend the state government for its seriousness towards addressing the issues of environmental degradation.
“The way to go is tree planting and prudent management of wastes in communities.
“This is a conscious effort to combat environmental degradation in the state and it is good for Gombe State looking at the magnitude of desertification, erosion and others.
“Planting four million trees and paying counterparts to secure World Bank loans to tackle erosion in some parts of the state is really encouraging and will resuscitate our environment,’’ he said.
He decried the poor attitude of residents toward the environment, especially in cutting down trees without replacing them, adding that anyone involved in such activities were not environment friendly.
Kawu, who called on communities to make conscious efforts in supervising trees planted by the state government in their domains, said it was only through this that the impact of environmental challenges could be mitigated.
“We must always combine with the tree planting effort and proper waste management cultures in rural areas so that what we gain in planting trees are not lost through poor waste disposal,’’ he said.
He called on the state government to do more in the area of sensitising communities on the need for an attitudinal change toward the environment.
“The environmental success of any programme depends on the attitude of the people in the communities where those programmes are being implemented, if you plant and they don’t nurture, then where are we?’’
By Peter Uwumarogie
