The Ministry of Forestry and the Environment in collaboration with Freedom from Hunger Campaign, Saint Joseph Family Farms Centre and the National Consultancy on Rural Training and Extension Services, on Friday launched the National Forest Programme (NFP).

The launching ceremony was held at the Kaira Konko Lodge in Jarra Soma, Lower River Region (LRR). The three-year project is supported by the FAO and the first phase will be implemented from 2010 to 2011. The objective of the project is to stop the rapidly degrading forest environment and the growing threat of desertification in Western Region and Lower River Region.

In his statement, Wally Sanneh, the deputy governor of LRR, said that the degradation of the forest in the region continues to be a major problem. He expressed delight over the performance of Freedom from Hunger Campaign. According to him, it is everybody's business to make sure that the natural flora and fauna are reserved. He saluted the Gambian leader Sheikh Professor  Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh for his visionary leadership and thanked FAO for supporting the government of The Gambia.

In his welcome remarks, Muhammed Jaiteh, assistant director at the Forestry Department, disclosed that the occasion marks the first regional launching of the National Forest Programme facility in The Gambia. According to him, the national launching was held in April 2009 following the signing of a three-year partnership agreement between the FAO and the government of The Gambia through the ministry of Forestry and the Environment.

He said that The Gambia is highly endowed with forest resources covering about 43% of the total land area. To maintain this status, he added, the government of The Gambia under the dynamic leadership of His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh has demonstrated its commitment through the formulation of an appropriate forest policy framework and the development of strategies since in the mid-nineties.

Among these strategies, he said, is the participatory forest management approach through the community forestry management concept as enshrined in The Gambia Forest Management Concept (GFMC). Jaiteh further revealed that presently there are over six hundred villages involved in the participatory forest resource management and that they are currently managing approximately 40, 000 hectares of forest nationwide.

The three activities identified for implementation in the regions from 2010 to 2011, he said, are the expansion and consolidation of community forests, rehabilitation of degraded forest land as well as livelihood improvement of community forest communities through the development of community based forest enterprises using the market analysis and development (MAFD) approach. Jaiteh reiterated his department's commitment towards the success of the programme and thanked FAO for the support being rendered to the people of The Gambia.

Yankuba Manneh, the programme coordinator of Saint Joseph Family Farms Centre, called on the people to put all hands on deck in order to ensure that the environment is managed and sustained for the interest of mankind.