Ondo Timber traders advocate for reforestation to replace depleted trees from forest

TIMBER traders under the auspices of Timber Traders Organisation (TTO) in Akure South local government area of Ondo state, have called on the state government to put in place reforestation initiative to replace and restock woods that have been depleted from the forest.

The timber traders who stated this in Tuesday after its Congress in Akure, Ondo state capital, noted that the process of restoring and recreating had been dumped by subsequent government in the state while new trees are not put in place.

Speaking on behalf of the traders, the Chairman, Comrade Ayodeji Omotosho, said despite the efforts of the timber traders towards reforestation, the state government has failed to encourage them.

According to him, payments are made by the traders into the state government coffers to ensure that every trees removed at any point are replaced to guide against deforestation but noted that no trees had been replaced in the last decades

“Most of the areas we have in the forest were being planted or replaced during the days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and subsequent government have failed to follow his footsteps.

“These tress might be a thing of the past in this part of the country if we fail to plan to plant new trees. We must go back to the days of our great leaders who have put in place better plans for us and we must also guard against the extinction of our trees.”

He however called on state government to synergise with the timber traders in tree planting and advocated for more awareness on tree planting in Nigeria.

Omotosho also commended the state governor for the opening of the forest for the traders but appealed to the state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu to consider resumption of activities at the reserved areas which are still under restrictions.

He stated that despite the closure, forest encroachers who grow Indian hemp have turned to kings in the reserved forest perpetrating their illegal business unhindered.

He said “we want to appeal to the State government to lift the ban on the closure of the reserved areas. Most of our vehicles are in the bush for the past two months that the area had been closed.

We are calling on our governor to consider the opening of the reserved area to continue with our business in order to help developing the state Internally Generated Revenue for the state.

We are ready to work with the government to wade off encroachers who are operating in the forest while we appeal to the government to help build our business by encouraging us.

He however called on researchers across the country to look into making sawdust useful rather than burning it.