The Daily Observer (Banjul)
By Ebrima Jatta
Momodou Kotu Cham , secretary of state for Forestry and the Environment has said that The Gambia did not contribute to the build-up of green house gases in the atmosphere, instead it removes green house gases from the atmosphere due to the forest cover, which serves as a sink of the green house gases.
SoS Cham made these remarks at the launching of the UNDP Human Development Report 2007/08 entitled: "Fighting climate change in a divided world", and was held at the Nourished Beach Area of the Atlantic Hotel, an area which was formally covered with sea water but later transformed by the Government Beach Nourishment Project.
According the sos, the 1993 green house gas inventory report clearly maintains that an average Gambian absorbs about 44 tons of carbon-dioxide every year from the atmosphere. He added that despite non-contribution to the green house gas build-up in the atmosphere, climate change impacts on the country will include reduction in food production and increased water stress, loss of habitats and wildlife species and additional salt water intrusion into the River Gambia and the continued erosion of the capital city.
"We cannot fold our hands and wait for the impacts of climate change to destroy our livelihood and de-rail our developmental path. We have to face the challenges of climate change in two fronts; through mitigation by which we reduce the continued build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and also through adaptation by which we have to re-align and adopt policies and measures that will reduce or alleviate the negative impacts of climate change and make good use off the positive impacts of climate change," he said.
SoS Cham noted that, the government of The Gambia has identified measures including attempts in the reduction of the use of fuel wood by adopting appropriate waste management practices such as composting of waste and innovative sand management and the development and implementation of the integrated coastal zone management plan among others .
According to him, The Gambia has the political will but requires additional resources and cooperation to successfully participate in the implementation of the convention and its Kyoto Protocol with particular attention to be paid in the activities and projects that have been identified in the national adaptation programme of action .
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