Read at : Google Alert – desertification
http://allafrica.com/stories/201112230736.html
Gambia’s Forestry Policy – an African Success Story
The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Amadou Jallow – 23 December 2011
Stakeholders in the forestry sector have confirmed that The Gambia’s forestry policy is recording some multiple successes that can gain the country a robust reputation to serve as a point for learning by many African countries for a sustainable forest conservation and management. This was stated at a recent one-day Multi Stakeholder Steering Committee meeting to review activities of the National Forest Programme Facility (NFP) organised by the Department of Forestry in collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations at the Baobab Holiday Resort in Bijilo.
The National Forest Programme (NFP) is designed to halt the rapidly degrading forest environment amidst a growing threat of desertification particularly in the West Coast and Lower River Regions of the country. The three-year partnership agreement between the government of The Gambia and the FAO sought to empower communities with legal security, skills and knowledge necessary to sustainably manage their natural resources as well as conserve the remaining bio-diversity.
Gambia began implementing the Gambian Forest Management Concept (GFMC) through the Forest Policy to promote community-based forest management, which promotes participatory forest management at the local, district, regional, and national levels.
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