A
national forum on minimum tree cover on farms in The Gambia has outlined how
trees could help in poverty reduction and climate resilience.
The
forum is part of the ecosystem based adoption project objective in helping
restore degraded farmlands and community managed forests and other ecosystem.
Speaking
on theme; boosting resilience and prosperity through tree-enhancing on farm
tree cover in rural Gambia, Environment Minister Lamin Dibba said the 2020
vision is to implement the plans of land degradation, adding that trees prevent
natural calamities.
He
however revealed plans of putting in place over one billion trees this year,
while also assuring that a new forestry policy is on the way to protect the
country’s forest cover.
“We
are doing this for society to change and for that to happen, the people must
change. Trees could be used to transform lives of the people if they are well
taken care of,” the minister said.
Dr.
Peter Minang outlined how trees could improve Gambia’s economy, stating that if
investments are made on mega wires, it would be a huge benefit for the country’s
economic system.
He
said the economic part of trees need to be promoted, saying cashew is a
valuable product to the country and can increase the economy at a greater pace.
Dr.
Minang said the EbA study covered one hundred households and had shown that
most of the food consumed during hunger periods are from wild fruits.
The
EbA project is currently being implemented in the Gambia to restore degraded
agricultural landscapes which will enable communities to generate direct and
indirect benefits for them.
The
baseline study for the EBA project has revealed that many communities are
interested in tree planning but several constraints hampered the practice.
These constraints according to the study include access to the right planting
materials, technical knowhow and environmental constraints which largely has to
deal with the amount of rainfall.
According
to the ecosystem based adoption, addressing such barriers requires a concerted
effort by all actors of decision making bodies and entities responsible to
craft how tenure conditions could be arranged, how incentives could be
provided. Access to proper planting materials could also be beneficial in this
case.
