Abandonment Of Andoni Elephant Cluster: Council Blames Forestry Department

The Andoni Local Government has blamed the non take-off of the Andoni Elephant Cluster Project on the Forestry Development of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
The project was anchored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Niger Delta Biodiversity Conservation programme.
It would be recalled that a draft byelaws on the project was in 2019 submitted to the Andoni Local Government Council during a well attended seminar at Ngo, the council headquarters.
The draft byelaws was titled: Andoni Local Government wild Life Species Protection Byelaws: The Protection of Endangered Flora and Fauna Byelaws 2019.
First schedule to the byelaws reads: “Animals and Plant in relation to which hunting, collection, live capture or trader is prohibited, except in exceptional circumstances.
Second schedule also reads: “Animals and Plants in relations to which hunting, collection, live capture or trade may only be permitted under license.
According to a copy obtained by The Tide, the UNDP says, the proposed law was in line with the National Wildlife Species Protection Amendment Act 2015.
The convention on International Trade in Endangered Species or Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
“The convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and her daughter Agreement and Protocols as well as the convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to which Nigeria is a signatory” it said.
However, since its submission, the document is yet to be deliberated upon by the Local Government Legislative Assembly or even the executive arm of the council.
This situation has put the Elephants and other Wildlife Species in Andoni under greater dangers of extinction.
Speaking during an interactive session with journalists of Andoni extraction in Port Harcourt, the Executive Chairman of Andoni Local Government Council, Hon. Paul Lawrence Pau said the Forestry Department of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture should be blamed for the non take-off of the project.
He said the council had set aside the sum of N6 million as well as provide an office space for the take-off of the project, but officials of the forestry department were not coming forth for the project.
Meanwhile, a consultant to the UNDP on the project, Raymond Enunwane, in a telepone chat with The Tide, expressed surprise that the byelaws is yet to be deliberated upon by the Andoni Local Government Legislative Assembly since its submission a year ago.