Editorial

Another rainy season is here; we are aware that those who are keenly interested in the development of the country are poised for intense farming operations with the ultimate aim of meeting the food self-sufficiency drive of the country. Of course there are some who are folding their hands and not heeding the back-to-the-land call; it is high time that such people realise the inexorableness of agriculture in the achievement of development.

Now that we are at the very entrance of the wet season, we wish to seize this opportunity to call on all and sundry to partake in the collective efforts to preserve our environment. This is fundamental because this is the most perfect time to nurture the environment. Every citizen should therefore make it a moral duty to at least plant a single tree. This would not only help in protecting our forest cover but also check the desertification that is threatening the country.

We do not need to remind anybody that The Gambia is a sahelian country; this implies that the country lies within the sub-tropical savanna belt and prone to desertification. The encroaching desert would have the better of our land if adequate attention is not given to the environment. No sober-minded person can argue that in the face of such a threat, planting and nurturing more trees is the best weapon we have at our disposal to protect the country.

With timber trade already a lucrative enterprise in the country, coupled with the massive cutting of trees for either residential purposes as in the case of the Kombos (Kairaba Avenue is a typical example) or for agricultural purposes(North Bank Region is a case in point), conservation and protection of our environment should therefore, be the concern of all. We urge every citizen of this country to take advantage of this season to launch a green revolution by planting a tree so that we can collectively save the country from the double menace of deforestation and desertification.

Those in the timber trade should also endeavour to put the interest of society above profit maximisation. The Forestry Department should also take active steps to ensure that those who are legally accredited to be engaged in the timber trade do so with caution while those who are illegally felling the trees just for their individual selfish interest are apprehended and brought to justice.

We should at all times realise that the Gambia government continues to provide Gambians with quite a number of alternatives, which, if adhered to, will lead to our total liberation from poverty.Development, like the president has always emphasised, cannot be durable if the people for whom it is meant are not part of the initiators and implementers of the projects concerned.Let us therefore plant trees to save our environment.