We remain committed to ensuring productive forest reserves – Ogun commissioner

The Ogun State Government has reiterated its commitment to protect its forest reserves from further depletion through deliberate human activities.

Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal, re-echoed this as the Ministry’s inspection team moved to Owode-Salami, Ojukorodo, Apora, Eseke of Area J1 forest reserve, Ijebu-Igbo in Ijebu North Local Government Area of the State in continuation of efforts to get rid of illegal cocoa plantation from its reserves.

Chief Lawal, in a statement signed by his media aide, Mr. Olubodun Obasola, said that the rate at which illegal farmers destroy economic trees to pave way for cocoa plantation was alarming, maintaining that drastic measures needed to be taken to make forest reserves in the State productive.
The Commissioner said that government had taken decision to destroy cocoa trees as well as permanent structures found in its forest reserves, saying the development was an aberration to the purpose for which the forest reserves were meant to serve.

‘’We will continue to destroy illegal cocoa plantation found in our reserves to bring sanity and make forest reserves more productive,’’ he said.

The Commissioner, however, affirmed that the Ministry would embark on vigorous regeneration of its forests in the coming year to ensure that trees that had been destroyed were replaced, saying that planting of cocoa was not a crime, but it should be cultivated in the areas that government had allocated for it as no cash crops are allowed in forest reserves.