Monday 27 March 2017

Commemorating 5th World Forest Day:

Greenpeace frowns against deforestation by local communities
By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde
Eric Ini, Greenpeace Africa Forest Campaigner 
The campaigner of a non-governmental organization, GREENPEACE AFRICA, has called on local communities in Cameroon to shun deforestation, protect and avoid cutting down trees that could serve different purposes. Eric Ini was speaking last Tuesday 21 March 2017 in Yaounde during celebrations marking the 5th edition of World Forest Day.
                To commemorate this day, the Greenpeace volunteers in Cameroon, under the umbrella of Green Ambassadors of Cameroon, organized a series of activities with youths including notably a quiz competition for primary schools, environmental and forest debate for University students, sketches and poetry competition for secondary schools, music and lots more. All the activities were staged in a bid to condemn the felling of trees and to underscore the importance of trees to humans.

                The theme of this year’s commemoration: “Forest and Energy” also underscored the importance of forest with regards to energy production and conservation. It’s for this reason that Greenpeace and several young people in the Congo Basin region coined the social media slogan ‘my forest my life’, to emphasize the importance of the forest in sustaining human life on the planet.
The Greenpeace volunteers used the celebration to edify participants on the interactive awareness approach of sensitizing communities on forest issues.
                According to the Campaigner of Greenpeace Africa, Eric Ini, “these activities by Greenpeace volunteers are aimed to send an important message to Cameroon’s environment officials and illegal agriculturalists that the youths are aware of threats posed to the forest by illegal logging and deforestation.” He added that “it is also an opportunity to build a solid foundation for the youth to start appreciating the values of sustainable forest management.”
                In a bid to ensure that this knowledge gets to the local communities, Eric Ini echoed that they have so far visited local areas like Babessi, Nguti and Konye in the South West region where they preached to the populations to keep their forest zones safe. “We have also made sure some elderly persons are invited to our events in towns so that they can acquire more skills and go back and educate those back at home. 
                The United Nations General Assembly in 2012 established the international Day of the Forest to highlight the importance and challenges faced by the forest, especially degradation and deforestation.
                World Forest Day provides an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on the usefulness of the forest and the urgent need to address deforestation and irresponsible industrial agriculture in the Congo Basin Forest.
                It is worthy to mention that the forest plays an important role in regulating the global climate and halting runaway climate change, for the benefit of the entire biosphere. Authorities of Greenpeace argue that because of misuse, the forest is under threat from accelerating deforestation and unless the trend is effectively addressed, the Congo Basin forest could face the same destruction as that seen in West Africa and South East Asia.
                It should be noted that the Congo Basin Forest is the second largest forest basin in the world, second only to the Amazon Forest Basin. Apart from providing a cushioning effect to the burning heat from the sun it also helps to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide Oxygen needed to form the oxone layer. That is why officials of Greenpeace are hoping that environment and forest officials in Cameroon who control 11% of the Congo Basin forest, will enact and implement regulations that safeguard this “lungs of Africa”

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