Key actors in the Environment sector in Bayelsa State have canvassed the need for adequate regulation of logging and sand mining activities as well as conservation of forest and natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.
They made the call at the Environmental Defenders Network Resource Centre in Yenagoa at a one day stakeholders’ engagement on Forest Closure and Ban on Illegal Sand Dredging by the Bayelsa State Government.
The forum was organized by the Environmental Conservation Agriculture and Rural Development (ECARD) in conjunction with the office of the Technical Assistant to the Governor on Environment.
Only recently, the Bayelsa State government through the Ministry of Environment closed all forests and dredging across the State with effect from January 1, 2026 to check the indiscriminate felling of trees and mining of sand in communities and rivers.It was in line with this that the non-profit organization, the Environmental Conservation Agriculture and Rural Development (ECARD) came up with the stakeholders’ engagement forum to deliberate on the decision.Chief Operating Officer of ECARD, Chief Alagoa Morris said the policy by the State government was borne out of the need to regulate the indiscriminate depletion of forest resources and dredging of sand in rivers. Chief Morris who is the Technical Assistant to Governor Douye Diri on Environment, said the decision was aimed at preserving and conserving forest and natural resources for sustainable use.
Programme Manager of ECARD, Mr. Henry Adike in an address of welcome supported the move to halt the indiscriminate exploitation of forest resources in the State, stressing that if the action was not taken the practice would adversely affect the source of livelihood of future generations.
In a Lecture on the merits and de-merits of the state government’s closure of forests and ban on illegal sand mining, Dr. Charles Oyibo of the Department of Environmental Management at the Niger Delta University, Amassoma said there was need to manage the needs of society alongside protection of the environment, as failing to strike that balance was a recipe for disaster.
Participants at the Stakeholders engagement forum were drawn from communities, loggers, dredgers, civil society organisations and the media.
