UNDP Urges Communities To Preserve Sacred Forests

Chairman, Caretaker Committee, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr. Tonye Tyger, participating in the monthly sanitation exercise at the Degema Cnsulate penultimate Saturday.

The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) has described sacred forests as historical heritages and therefore must be preserved from destruction.
The National Coordinator of Niger Delta Biodiversity Conservation Project, United Nations Development Progamme (UNDP), Dr Matthew Dore who said this during a meeting with traditional rulers and opinion leaders from some Niger Delta communities in Port Harcourt also called for the preservation of totems by communities in the region. Dr Dore said that sacred forests are heritages in the Niger Delta and therefore must be conserved for future generations.
According to him, sacred forest have historical linkages with communities where they are found, noting that their destructions are not only dangerous, but had the capacity of future Niger Delta generations from knowing their roots.
He said that, the situation could also boost the ecotourism sector and expressed the readiness of the UNDP to assist communities in the region to preserve their sacred forests from destruction.
Dr. Dore said that, the Niger Delta biodiversity conservation project which covers four states in the region which include; Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Akwa-Ibom states is expected to run for four years.
According to him, “the project goal is to contribute to the conservation of sustainable utilisation of globally significant biological diversity in the Niger Delta.
“The project is to mainstream biodiversity, management priorities, “he said.
Dr. Dore said that the UNDP was interested in ensuring that, Niger Delta people’s livelihood is not lost after oil, adding that a lot of Niger Delta species are going extinct.
“God has given us the responsibility to protect what he has created “we cannot out of greed or ignorance, finish what God has done.”  He said that the organisation will continue to build the capacity of the people to preserve their rich natural resources and stressed the need for stakeholders to support all effort being made to preserve their biodiversity resources.
Also speaking, Chief Casca Ogosu from Onne, in the Eleme Local Government Area decried the continuous encroachment on the Onura forest in Onne and also condemned the continuous destruction of Onne environment by oil companies.