OFFICIALS from Nigeria’s Edo State began a process Monday to tap into Ghana’s expertise in forestry management to boost its efforts at mitig
ating Climate Change and enhance eco-tourism, said officials Monday.
Edward Obiaw, Chairman of the Edo State Forestry Commission, who led the Nigerian delegation to Ghana’s Forestry Commission said since Ghana had been ahead of Nigeria in forest cover management, the
state would like to receive technical support from Ghana to develop the its forestry sector.
Obiaw said the areas of collaboration with Ghana would include, forest inventory, forest mapping, plantation development, eco-tourism, wildlife conservation, and forest management planning.
‘Looking at the moderate trend enforcement in Climate Change and REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), you need basic capacity in those areas to join the international community. But we lack these. So we are calling on Ghana to support us to develop those areas,’ said Obiaw.
He added that the Edo State would broaden the forestry sector to include plantation establishment, which would be community-based ‘so we can do a lot of recruitment into these activities.’
‘So where we want to look at Climate Change mitigation factors, we would encourage communities to do tree planting, set up their nurseries and plantations, and that will expand the forestry frontier and lead to job creation,’ said the visiting official.
John Allotey, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Forestry Commission, welcomed the decision by the Edo State of Nigeria to learn from Ghana’s forest cover management.
‘Climate Change Mitigation is an area we need collaboration among nations because no one nation can achieve it alone. So we need all countries to come together because if one country does well and the other lags, the impact will be reversed,’ he stated.
Allotey added that Ghana and Nigeria would also collaborate and share ideas on attracting investments into eco-tourism.
Members of the Nigerian delegation included young civil servants who would receive training in change management, technical forestry, and leadership to help transform the Edo State forestry commission from a civil service into a semi-autonomous institution.
Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led this year’s Green Ghana Day commemoration on June 10 with the aim of planting 20 million tree seedlings to restore lost forest cover and mitigate effects of Climate Change.
