The Federal Government has assured that it would address the environmental problems militating against the socio-economic development of the coastal states of the country.

Mohammed Bashar, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, gave the assurance

recently at the Mangrove/NYPA Palm sensitisation and training workshop in Yenagoa, Bayelsa.

He said, “This workshop should be considered as one of the series of capacity building efforts of the ministry. “To ensure that communities are positively engaged in our fight against environmental degradation,” he said.

Bashar explained that the objective of the workshop was to address the issues of hunger, poverty and food insecurity as well as ensure sustainable development of the people in the coastal region.

The permanent secretary also revealed that the coastal environment consisted of diverse ecosystem and rich natural resources such as tin, columbine, oil and gas.

He added that the ecosystem had renewable resources such as fish, reptiles, marine mammals and the mangrove.

Bashar disclosed that Nigeria’s mangrove stock was the highest in Africa as it ranked as the third largest in the world.

He said that about 7,000 sq. km out of Africa’s total stock of 9,730 sq.km was found in the Niger Delta region of the country.

The permanent secretary stressed that mangrove biodiversity was an important source of livelihood for communities within and beyond the coastal areas.

He noted that mangrove species could be used to derive coal, poles for building flooring of houses, foundation pilling, scaffolding, as firewood, and as fishing stakes, among others.

Bashar expressed regret that the mangrove forests of the coastal states had been degraded and depleted significantly, due to overexploitation and pollution.

According to him, that has made it difficult for the ecosystem to fulfill its numerous functions. In her keynote address, Mrs Victoria Denenu, the Bayelsa Commissioner for Environment, said the state mangrove ecosystem covered four out of the eight local government areas of Brass, Nembe, Southern Ijaw and Ekeremor.

She advised stakeholders to conserve the mangrove ecosystem with a view to restoring the forests and biodiversity to their pristine position.

The commissioner also appealed to the Federal Ministry of Environment to involve the state government in project planning before awarding contracts related to the ecosystem.

The Tide’s source reports that participants were drawn from the eight local government areas of the state.