THE Kwara State government has said that its Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and other relevant agencies would henceforth be turning down the approval of any building plan, which has no space provided for plants or greenery.

Speaking at the World Forestry Day celebration in Ilorin, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said the state government valued the need for afforestation to prevent the threat of desertification in the state.

Ahmed, who was represented at the event by the state Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Samuel Bamisaiye, said the government has outlawed the production of charcoal, which is made from burning of trees, adding that the ministry and agencies' officials have been empowered to ensure compliance with the forestry policies of the state to preserve its forest.

Besides, he said that the ministry has been directed to preserve the forest reserves in the state with a view to developing them to become game reserves.

Bamisaiye who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Dr. Abdulrazaq Amuda, said there is need to address the issue of afforestation in the state.

The commissioner said people should plant trees around their property for plants to take in carbon dioxide from humans and for humans to take in oxygen from plants, adding that forests and green spaces help improve air quality in urban and rural areas; improve human health and prevent bad effects of climate change.

Presenting a paper titled, 'Forests, Health and Climate Change,' a lecturer in the Department of Forestry Resources Management at the University of Ilorin, Dr. Babalola Folaranmi, called on the state government to review what he called outdated Forest Policy and Law in the state to protect forests, describing as ridiculous, the N5,000 fine or five months imprisonment stipulated for offenders.

He also urged the government to employ adequate forest guards and officers to monitor and safeguard forests from indiscriminate felling of trees, adding that people should replant a tree cut with six others for the sake of children yet unborn.