BY ROTIMI AJAYI
ABUJA—Federal Government is to increase Nigeria’s forest cover from six to 10 per cent by 2013 just as it vowed to go hard on the implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment,EIA,Act.

Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafia, stated this in Kaduna, weekend, during the closing of the eighth National Council on Environment,NCE.

The minister said, increasing environmental challenges in the country had made it imperative for the EIA Law to be strictly implemented on all major projects and activities across the country to ensure that environmental problems get the needed attention from the planning stage.

She noted that the present government had placed greater emphasis on sustainable development with a focus on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as a prerequisite not only for physical development, but also for exploitation of our natural resources.

She reminded Nigerians that the responsibility for environmental management must be collectively borne by the three tiers of government and urged that all hands should be on deck on this.

Speaking on the rapidly expanding desert, the Minister said that the Ministry had set a target of ensuring that the present forest cover of 6% is increased to 10% by the year 2013, while 1,500 km of Shelter belt is to be established in the eleven frontline states in the North.