By Samuel
The government of Gombe State has set its sight on eradicating environmental degradation in the state as it launched its 2020 tree planting campaign.
Governor of the state, Inuwa Yahaya who flagged off the exercise in Wajari, Yamaltu-Deba LGA over the weekend, said it will address the pressing ecological challenges daunting the state.
The initiative themed “Greener Gombe for a Greater Gombe” is targeted at planting one million trees yearly.
Yahaya explained that the campaign was launched to protect the ecological system and support the livelihood of citizens of the state.
This, he said, formed the administration’s crux on ecological restoration and preservation as a result of the severity of the diverse environmental challenges confronting the state.
“Available evidence shows that about two-thirds of our entire state is facing various forms of land degradation such as desertification, deforestation, and other negative effects on agricultural productivity leading to declining crop yield.
” It is common knowledge that our state is one of the frontline states that are threatened by rapid desert encroachment.
”Desert encroachment is also exposing our lands to wind and gully erosion, silting of rivers and lakes, and drying up of our water bodies” Yahaya added.
The state, according to the governor, had lost between 65 to 96 percent of its entire forest cover to unabated deforestation, in the past four decades.
He added that he has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources and the Ministry of Justice to expedite the on-going review of forest resources laws.
“We cannot afford to spend huge amounts of scarce resources to plant and nurture trees, only for them to be felled and sold for peanuts by some unpatriotic elements”