The Federal Government is collaborating with Yobe State and 10 other front-line states across Nigeria to fight desert encroachment.
The Yobe State Commissioner of Environment, Mr Idi Barde Gubana, told Channels Television in Damaturu, a week after the launching of the year’s tree planting campaign, organised by the Yobe State government, that the encroaching desert was speedily evading the state.
Mr Idi Barde Gubana said the federal Ministry of Environment was currently collaborating with 11 front-line states in the country worst hit by desertification to implement a programme call “Great Green Wall” and involve Sub-Saharan African countries stretching from Senegal in the west down to Njibouti to the east with Nigeria as a party.
Gubana stressed that the programme was intended to establish a wall of trees inform of shelter-belts covering a distance of 8,000 kilometre, cutting across the West African sub-region.
He said: “In Nigeria the programme cuts across eleven front-line states that are seriously affected by desertification and which share common boundary with the Republic of Niger covering a distance of 1,500 km with Yobe State having the larger share of about 323 km.
“Under the Great Green Wall programme, the Federal Ministry of Environment is currently collaborating with Yobe State’s Ministry of Environment in the area of shelter-belt and orchard development, sand dunes fixation and grazing resources development”.
According to Gubana, the affected Local Government Areas in the state are; Machina, Nguru, Karasuwa, Yusufari, Yunusari.
Twenty-eight kilometre of shelter-belt has been established in some selected locations along the trans-Saharan route starting from Kanamma in Yunusari Local Government up to Falimaram in Machina Local Government Area.
He also said 12 boreholes had been drilled in 12 communities with two in each of the six local government catchment areas.
He added that installation of solar panel and wind driven facilities were near completion while 36 out of 52 forest guards identified and drawn from the six participating Local Government Areas had been trained and gainfully employed under the Great Green Wall programme.
The Commissioner of Environment, Mr Idi Barde Gubana stated that the present administration had approved the additional fencing materials, tube walls and the engagement of casual labourers to ensure effective post planting management of the shelter-belt with a view to enhancing forestation.
He praised the Federal Government-States initiative, saying it will go a long way in conserving the environment thereby controlling desert encroachment.
