Wood based companies in Ogun State need to join hands with the government in its campaign to rejuvenate timber resources and prevent them from going into extinction.
Commissioner for Forestry, Alh. Adebayo Fari threw this challenge when he visited Omo Wood Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Wempco Group of Companies, emphasising government’s determination to protect forest resources through re-afforestation.
Fari indicated that as a step in this direction, the State government was embracing the global culture of replacing every tree felled with three new ones, particularly in all the State-owned forest reserves.
He expressed concerns about the unbridled felling of trees without a corresponding replacement, a situation he feared may adversely affect operations in wood industry as there may not be enough timbers for them to explore in the nearest future.
“I am afraid that with the current trends of over depletion of forest reserves, wood based companies like yours may not be in business in next one or two decades. And we don’t want that to happen, hence the need for you to join the league” Fari charged.
Responding, Chairman, Wempco Group, Alhaji Tokunbo Alli lauded plans of government to embark on reforestation programmes expressed the readiness of his company to throw its weight behind the campaign.
Alli disclosed that as a demonstration of the resolve to ensure the success of the campaign, the company was presently regenerating 250 hectares annually out of the 10,000 hectares conceded to it by government.
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