The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, has said the Federal Government is committed to securing the nation’s forests.

Mr Lawal gave the assurance during the presentation of 11 Safari Hilux vehicles to the National Park Service by the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project in Abuja.

ACReSAL is a World Bank-financed project designed to tackle the pressing issues of land degradation, climate change, among others

The minister said that President Bola Tinubu was interested in the operations of NPS to address insecurity in Nigeria’s forests.

He expressed worry that some of the forests had become hideouts where bandits and kidnappers keep their victims.

He said. “The handover of these vehicles to the NPS is a demonstration of the president’s commitment to enhancing the capacity of NPS.’’

Mr Lawal said that the deployment of the vehicles would significantly improve the NPS’ effectiveness in combating the dangerous trend of poaching and preservation of the wildlife.

He said it was a milestone event to protect the natural resources of the country.

He stated, “The ACReSAL project has made tremendous strides in building community resilience and increasing sustainable landscape management practices; aligning perfectly with our ministry’s vision for environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation. Notable achievements of the project include the development of six Strategic Watershed Management Plans, restoration total of 77,271 hectares of degraded landscapes and the planting of 1,698,694 trees across the 19 northern states. Additionally, the project has improved conservation and park management in Yankari Game Reserve, Jos Wildlife Park, Gombe State Department of Forestry and the NPS.’’

The National Project Coordinator for ACReSAL, Abdulhamid Umar, said that the project aimed to address the challenges of land degradation through integrated catchment approach.

Mr Umar said, “The ICT equipment earlier provided to NPS would assist in improving operational efficiency and effectiveness. We are here to provide succour and direct support for biodiversity and revival of the ecosystem that speaks and takes care of fauna and flora. Also to address transportation challenges, ACReSAL has delivered 11 Hilux vehicles to fast track activities at 11 national parks across the country. In addition to the support, ACReSAL has also assisted in the construction of seven modern rangers guard post in selected parks and some solar panels to forestall power failure challenges.’’

Responding, Conservator-General, NPS, Dr Ibrahim Goni, commended ACReSAL for its support to the service assuring that the equipment would be put to the best use.

He revealed that ACReSAL also provided a 20kva solar project which addressed the power challenges of the service.

He said, “We are concerned about the regeneration of our forests; national park is the bedrock to the regeneration of forests in the country.’’

He appealed for the review and development of management plans and the system plans of the 11 national parks.

He stated, “Also needed is the restoration of 400 hectares of degraded lands of these national parks to alleviate food insecurity and a capacity training of NPS officials by ACReSAL.’’

(NAN)