By: Arret Jatta
The Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, Rohey John Manjang, informed lawmakers that the Forestry Department “is working” on implementing a participatory forest management scheme for communities to take ownership of forests to avoid bushfires and other forest-related disasters.
“When people know that they are part of the ownership,they manage and protect it(forest). That is why in most of the community forests, we are having limited bushfires. Therefore, we encourage all the forests that are idle to be owned by a community so that they can manage them at that level,” she told the House.
Madam Manjang further informed legislators that the government sometimes implements projects that complement its efforts to resource the forests.
“Gradually, we will try to provide and support the efficient, sufficient, and sustainable management of the forest cover,”she added.
She pointed out that budget constraints hinder the employment of more forestry officers to protect the forests, saying forest protection interventions consume more of the ministry’s budget than any other department.
“Therefore, we currently cannot employ more forestryofficers in the regions,” she admitted.
On the timber export ban, the environment and climate change minister said: “Since effecting the ban on the exportation of timber in July 2022, the Department of Forestry has not issued any license for the export of timber. The ban on exportation of timber is still in force.”
She, however, underscored the importance of public knowledge around the fact that the importation of non-threatened timber species and local timber consumption have not been banned.