Annually, illegal bushfires account for a significant loss to our forest covers as the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages.
The consequences are many and severe not only to nature, but also to people and animals that rely on grass in the bush for their survival.
The ugly practise has put the country’s efforts to conserve our fast depleting flora and fauna population, to a standstill.
Illegally setting our forest cover on fires is still occurring in many parts of the country and those behind the acts are nowhere to be traced most of the time.
Over the years, bushfires have resulted in communities losing farm produce, while leaving uncountable animals starving.
We want to remind the public that communities have a great role to play in the management of their forest reserves. This brings to mind the need for a change of attitudes to preserve our remaining forest covers.
Taking full ownership of our forest cover will significantly boost and reserve our biodiversity population. We need to intensify more community outreach programmes and sensitisation activities to address these illegal bushfires.
We thus encourage every Gambian to participate in any anti-bush fire campaign geared towards restoring the country’s lost glory.
Bush fires can be serious and, if not addressed adequately, can cause a big problem for our rural settlers, and the country as a whole.
It is a fact that some bush fires are not caused naturally, but caused either by cigarette smokers inadvertently or bad elements or even people searching for honey.
The need to preserve our environment is very important, and there should be no compromise for those found wanting in creating the menace.
We also encourage our farmers to create bushfire belts in their communities to prevent their houses and farm produce from being consumed by bush fires when they occur.
We urge the public to report anyone found to be engaged in the practice of starting bushfires. Implementing these measures would no doubt go a long way toward addressing the menace of bush fires in our country.
Finally, we once again urge people to change their attitudes in dealing with fire in our homes to avoid more disasters.
“Every tree in the forest has a story to tell. Some of them were burnt but they endured the fire and got revived; some of them were cut, their barks injured, some people pick up their leaves to make medicines for their sicknesses, birds used their leaves to make their nests, etc. Upon all these, the tree is still tree!”