Gambia’s
minister of environment, climate change and natural resources said it is his
ministry’s target to plant over one million trees in 2020, aimed at
contributing to restoration of the lost value of land production and minimise
the effects of climate change.
Lamin
Dibba expressed the need for a greener environment in The Gambia by increasing
the forest and plant covers in all the regions particularly in the urban
settlements.
Global
reports indicate that it is extremely likely that human influence has been the
dominant cause of the observed warning since the mid-20th century.
Addressing
a two-day forum on national policy discourse on minimum tree cover on farms in
The Gambia, Minister Dibba revealed that the main purpose of the ecosystem
based adaptation project in The Gambia is to increase tree cover in over 12,000
hectares of degraded community managed forests, protect areas, and agricultural
landscapes to help communities to generate direct and indirect benefits from
them.
“Over
the past two years, the Ecosystem Based Adaptation project (EbA) invested
millions of dalasis to create the necessary tree nursery infrastructure to
raise the millions of seedlings that would be needed for the restoration,” he
said.
Minister
Dibba however implored on all Gambians to work diligently towards attaining the
purpose and finding a common ground where agriculture could continue to meet
the food ‘we need’ while trees continue to provide the ameliorating
microclimatic benefits, soil fertility as well as financial returns.
He
also stressed the need for a new forestry policy, which he said would help
protect the forest in the country.
Presenting
on the potential initiatives to increase tree cover for the Gambia, Dr. Lalisa
Duguma, scientist from Sustainable Landscapes and Climate Change (ICRAF) said
an equivalent of 46,948 hectares of trees could be grown in the Gambia with 42
trees per household every year.
He
said there is a great potential in initiating the increase of tree cover for
the Gambia, adding that trees are exiting borders, which no one can dispute and
thereby prevent border conflicts.
According
to him, trees play a very essential role in promoting environmental
sustainability and climate resilience, observing that growing trees for a
greener sustainable and healthier environment is necessary.
