Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has given a nod to the establishment of the first National Park in the South-east, to be sited in Abia State.
The Governor gave the nod on Tuesday, 11 August, while receiving a delegation from the National Park Service, led by the Chairman of its Governing Council, in his office.
Governor Otti assured the delegation of the State Government’s full support for the initiative, describing it as timely. He noted that he had earlier in the day approved a request from the Commissioner for Environment for tracing and identifying forest reserves across the State.
According to the Governor, Abia has 19 forest reserves, 18 of which are currently available for consideration. This, he said, provides an opportunity to have at least one conservation area in each of the State’s 17 Local Government Areas.
“Coincidences just keep happening. Earlier this morning, I approved a request from the Honourable Commissioner for Environment for the tracing of forest reserves. Clearly, there is somewhere to start from,” Governor Otti said.
