Ekiti govt to plant 250, 000 trees
Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, will on Monday flag off the planting of 250,000 trees as part of the programme of his administration to fortify the already depleted forests in the state.
Speaking on a TV programme in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, the State Head of Service and Chairman of the State Forest Regeneration Committee, Dr. Olugbenga Faseluka, and the State Commissioner for Environment, Chief Bisi Kolawole, said the forest regeneration and tree planting programme which would be flagged off at Ayo Babalola Memorial Grammar school, Efon Alaaye, would begin with tree planting in all secondary schools in the state.
Faseluka explained that schools are co-opted not only to help protect schools from windstorm but also inculcate the tree planting culture in the younger generation students so as to ensure environmental sustainability.
He added that government offices especially at the State Secretariat would be involved in the exercise, while it would be extended to the public, in order to mitigate the hazardous effects of the depletion of the ozone layer.
Kolawole stated that the state government had taken steps to stop illegal felling of trees, stressing that the newly signed Ekiti State Forest Protection law provided a six-month jail term without fine option for anyone caught in the illegal activity.
