March 05, (THEWILL) – As the world celebrates the 2023 World Wildlife Day, the Bayelsa State Government has again, called on communities to protect endangered wildlife in their forests, adding that indigenous communities are the most effective guardians of their biodiversity.
Speaking with travel journalists at the Ernest Ikoli Press Centre in Yenagoa, over the weekend, the Senior Special Assistant to Bayelsa State Governor, Sen Douye Diri, on Tourism, Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo, regretted that the increased rate of wildlife poaching activities in Bayelsa State, especially the hunting of gorillas/chimpanzees at the Edumenum National Park, has become so alarming, even as he appealed to community leaders to protect wildlife habitats to build a thriving future for all living beings.
According to Dr. Kiyaramo, the Sen. Douye Diri-led prosperity administration has remained determined to preserve all species within the State’s six forest reserves, including rare plant species through a legal framework, saying that the Government will not fold its arms and watch the State’s forests being degraded.
The Governor’s aide explained that the 2023 World Wildlife Day, themed ‘Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation’, highlights the urgent need to work across governments, civil society, and the private sector to turn commitment into action, pointing out that World Wildlife Day, provides every one of us an opportunity to reflect on our responsibility to protect the magnificent diversity of life on our planet, charging all of us to realise our abject failure.
According to the Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Ivonne Higuero, “Human activities are laying waste to once-thriving forests, jungles, farmland, oceans, rivers, seas, and lakes. One million species teeter on the brink of extinction due to habitat destruction, fossil fuel pollution and the worsening climate crisis. We must end this war on nature.”
It will be recalled that 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the CITES, which has helped to protect thousands of plants and animals, just as the 2022 agreement on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework marked an important step towards putting the planet on a path to healing. Therefore, there is a need for much bolder actions to cut emissions, accelerate renewables, and build climate resilience.
