BY EMEM IDIO
OPUME—COMMUNITIES around the Edumonu Forest Reserve in Bayelsa State have called on the state and federal governments to urgently protect the forest from degradation, lamenting the absence of adequate access roads, signposts and other visible measures to safeguard the area.
The communities, spread across Ogbia and Nembe Local Government Areas, said the continued absence of effective protection was exposing the forest to destruction, while proposed measures to conserve the environment could disrupt the livelihoods of residents who depend on its resources for survival.
They also called for direct consultations with affected communities, particularly Okoroba in Nembe LGA, warning that conservation policies introduced without adequate engagement could leave residents bearing the economic consequences of protecting the forest.
The concerns were raised at a one-day community dialogue and engagement organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) at Opume Community Town Hall in Ogbia LGA.
The meeting, which held under the theme: Accelerating Nature and Climate Action to Advance Nigeria’s Net Zero and 30×30 Targets, brought together community leaders and representatives from the 41 communities around the Edumonu Forest Reserve.
Speaking at the meeting, HOMEF Programme Manager on Sea Politics, Cadmus Atake-Enade, said the engagement was intended to educate residents on the importance of forest conservation, secure their participation in the project and ensure their concerns were considered before further action was taken.
He said the communities had preserved the forest over the years and were being engaged to strengthen local participation in its protection and possible development to the standard of a national park.
According to him, the project would extend beyond forest conservation to include skills acquisition, environment-based business opportunities and energy solutions to address the needs of the communities.
He said the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) would handle the forest restoration component, while other partners and consultants would work on the remaining areas of the projects.
Atake-Enade stressed that the involvement of residents was essential to the success of the initiative, warning that conservation efforts undertaken without adequate consultation could create conflicts between communities and other stakeholders.
He said the dialogue had provided an opportunity to document the challenges facing the people, identify livelihood options and gather information on the forest, including concerns about tree species that were no longer found in the area.
The information, he added, would guide further consultations with relevant stakeholders and help determine how the forest could be protected without disregarding the needs of its host communities.
However, Chairman of the Edumonu Forest National Park Environmental Protection and Management Committee, HRH Douglas Onungu of Ogbema (Fikoruama), said the government’s response had yet to match the need for protection of the reserve.
Onungu said that despite the reported upgrade of the forest reserve to a national park, there were no signposts to identify its boundaries or warn people against unauthorised entry.
He lamented that the absence of visible protective measures had left the forest vulnerable to continued degradation.
“The Bayelsa State Government has not made any efforts to show that this is a park where people will not go in and destroy, because there is no signpost to indicate that it is a reserved forest,” he said.
According to him, residents had repeatedly complained that people continued to enter the forest and degrade it without any clear indication on the ground that the area was protected.
He appealed to the federal and state governments, as well as environmental conservation organisations, to take concrete steps to safeguard the forest for future generations.
Onungu also explained that the dialogue could not hold in Edumonu itself because of the lack of an access road, forcing the organisers to convene the meet ing in Opume, one of the communities within the reserve’s catchment area.
He described the engagement as an important awareness campaign that would help residents understand the need to protect the forest and extend the message to other communities.
Vice-Chairman of the Okoroba Community Development Committee in Nembe LGA, Ayerite Igbike, said the community was a major nucleus of the Edumonu Forest Reserve and would be among those most affected by restrictions associated with its conservation.
He said the community had already protested to the government over the need for relevant stakeholders to meet with its leadership and discuss the implications of the proposed conservation measures.
Igbike explained that some residents had access to undeveloped oil wells, which he identified as part of their potential means of economic survival.
He warned that conservation arrangements that failed to take their circumstances into account could further constrain their livelihood options.
He urged the project stakeholders to visit Okoroba and other affected communities to engage residents directly, rather than relying solely on meetings held outside the forest area.
“I am encouraging the stakeholders to go down to the creeks and discuss with the people on the way forward,” he said.
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