Western Bahr El Ghazal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Irrigation released an order prohibiting random cutting of all “valuable trees of economic importance.”
State Agriculture Minister Lillian Valentino Rizik told journalist Wednesday that it was forbidden to cut mahogany and teak trees without a license, Voice of Hope reported.She said illegal logging threatened the forest reserves planted many years ago in the state.
The minister explained that only her ministry can license logging activities and unlicensed logs would be seized.
Ms Valentino explained that her ministry was committed to strengthen its policies in order to raise revenue for the state.
She said the ministry should contribute with 30 percent of the state budget but for the whole year it raised only 2,000 Pounds.
The Minister said Western Bahr El Ghazal has 12 forest reserves which need to be protected from illegal logging.