The World Heritage Committee has requested Poland to submit, by February 2017, an evaluation of impacts of forest management within Bialowieza Forest, known for its undisturbed ecological processes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) noted on Thursday at UNESCO’s annual meeting of the Committee that a new conservation plan is urgently needed, following an advisory mission to the site in late June.
Wolves In the Białowieża Forest, Poland. Photo credit: wildpoland.com
“IUCN’s recent mission is a crucial step towards defining future action to support Bialowieza’s conservation,” says Cyril Kormos, Vice Chair for World Heritage at IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas. “Its findings, which include the urgent need for a management plan in consultation with local communities, will support Poland in protecting and maintaining the continuity and integrity of the old-growth forest within this natural treasure of Europe.”
Bialowieza Forest has been in the spotlight recently, due to concerns expressed by the scientific community and environmental groups over Poland’s plans to respond to an outbreak of the spruce bark beetle through forest management, which would increase logging threefold.
Bialowieza was one of the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979 as one the few remaining European primeval forests. The listed area was extended in 1992 and 2014, and now spans over 141,885 hectares across the borders of Poland and Belarus.
However, no management plan for the conservation of the Polish part of the site was prepared to account for the large area added in 2014, where a number of government institutions are responsible for forest management activities such as felling and planting. An updated conservation plan – requested by IUCN – would help ensure such activities are consistent across the whole site with the protection of Bialowieza’s old-growth forest.
Following a decision by the World Heritage Committee on Thursday, Poland is now expected to take into account the recommendations of IUCN’s mission and provide an evaluation of potential impacts of its plans to increase forest management activities to overcome beetle outbreaks. Following advice by IUCN, the World Heritage Committee has requested that this evaluation should take into account the opinions of local communities, with a view to foster sustainable development in the region.
“It is crucial that any forest management activity within Bialowieza is assessed focussing on protecting the site’s outstanding universal value,” says Peter Shadie, Senior Adviser on World Heritage for IUCN. “Ensuring community engagement within this process should support a more equitable and sustainable approach in the way the site is managed.”
Sustainable and equitable management of World Heritage sites will be a key issue discussed at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress. The Congress will take place from 1 to 10 September in Hawaiʻi, USA.
IUCN is the advisory body on natural World Heritage and is making recommendations this week to the World Heritage Committee meeting on World Heritage sites facing threats and on new inscriptions. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meeting will continue until 20 July.
Just beyond the remote mountain village of Yangma in the high Himalayas of eastern Nepal, Nepali conservationists fitted a female snow leopard with a GPS collar. The collar will allow scientists to track this snow leopard’s movement daily for the next year, which will help us learn more about these mysterious and endangered cats. This female becomes the third snow leopard collared near Yangma since 2013, the first two having both been males.
Snow leopards
Locals named this female cat “Lapchhemba” after a revered deity of the mountains who keeps a snow leopard as a pet. As a young adult female, Lapchhemba will be tracked as she explores the Himalayas, establishes her own territory, hunts for food, mates, and eventually become a mother contributing to the perpetuation of her species. In this manner, scientists will now get to learn the about the secret life of this snow leopard as she navigates adulthood in a fragile high mountain landscape threatened by both development and climate change.
A mountain community’s group efforts to protect snow leopards
Yangma is a Sherpa yak herding community that sits at an elevation of about 13,780 feet (4200 m) in Nepal’s Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, about a day’s walk from the border with China. For years, people slowly moved away from Yangma in search of better livelihood opportunities, an understandable choice because life in Yangma is not easy. From Yangma it is a two-day walk to the nearest village growing green vegetables, and another two-day walk beyond to the nearest road head and good schools, hospitals, and markets. But thanks to WWF’s snow leopard conservation efforts, this tiny community is getting a boost.
When snow leopard conservation work in Yangma began in 2014, the village had dwindled to just seven households. Since that time the population has rebounded to 11 families, drawn back in part by opportunities to participate in community snow leopard conservation work in the village. Each of these families has membership in the local Snow Leopard Conservation Committee established by WWF.
WWF researchers have trained committee members on the basics of snow leopard monitoring, and experienced committee members now enthusiastically participate in joint WWF-Government of Nepal collaring expeditions. These members select sites for snares – tools used to capture snow leopards without harming them – based on ongoing camera trap and sign survey findings. They then set up and monitor a network of snares and assist scientists with collaring once a snow leopard is captured. Community involvement in these research expeditions ensures their success and motivates participants to better protect their local snow leopards.
What we can learn As few as 4,000 snow leopards may remain in the wild, and they are so well camouflaged and so rarely seen that they’re known as the “ghosts of the mountains.” Tracking these cats with recently developed GPS collar technology has given us the first detailed insights into their day-to day behaviour and needs. This information will assist us in better protecting snow leopards from an array of threats to mountain environments, ranging from infrastructure development to climate change.
WWF works with mountain communities to educate people about snow leopard behavior and how to reduce loss of livestock to these cats. The goal of these efforts is to reduce the retaliatory killing of snow leopards that attack livestock, which is the single largest direct threat to snow leopard survival today. By working with mountain communities like Yangma, the USAID-funded WWF Asia High Mountains Project seeks to safeguard a future for remote mountain areas in which both people and wildlife can thrive – and so Lapchhemba and her descendants can roam majestic Himalayan peaks for generations to come.
An eight-lane arterial road stretching over 1,500 metres long has been completed in Eko Atlantic City, an innovative real estate development initiative that is emerging on Victoria Island by the Lagos coastline. Project promoters describe the highway as the first of its kind not only in the bustling city, but likewise in the country.
Eko Atlantic City
The controversial Eko Atlantic City is said to have reached advanced stages in the first five million square metres of the project.
The estate, which is divided into eight districts, is planned for mixed-use with commercial, residential, entertainment and leisure activities to make the city a 24/7 lively environment. City amenities and services will include an international school, plant nurseries, hospital, and a state-of the art shopping mall.
The promoters disclosed in a statement that the eight-lane boulevard’s road design and construction has been built to world’s best practice with paved sidewalks, tree-lined and streetlights completed with an ocean view.
“One of the considerations when developing the Eko Atlantic city was to guarantee a traffic-free zone. This has now been achieved with the major road network recently completed. The extensive road network is now clearly defined with an area in excess of 200,000 sq. metres. Most significantly Eko Boulevard, the focal point of the Business District, is fully completed from Ahmadu Bello Way in Victoria Island to the Ocean Front Sea Wall.
We are extremely proud to have achieved another major milestone in the development of Eko Atlantic City. This futuristic city is not just for residential and commercial activities but a tourist attraction. We strongly believe the new boulevard will enhance business activities, facilitate intercity transportation as well as attracting tourists from all over Africa,” discloses the statement, adding:
“In addition, the city’s infrastructure network makes it the most technically advanced city in Nigeria and Africa. It comes with a fully integrated autonomous and reliable infrastructure networks with all the following installed under the extensive paved sidewalks – storm-water drains, sewer drains, water supply piping, power cables and IT network.”
The Eko Atlantic City also offers 15 connecting bridges, 14 of which are said to have been completed. All the bridges, it was gathered, employ a post-tensioning system for their bridge deck reinforcement. The technique uses cable under stress rather than reinforcing rods, which is a common approach worldwide.
The city, which will soon become a home to over 450,000 people and 300,000 commuters, has also made considerable progress in the city-wide canal network with 4,000 metres of canal side sheet piling already installed.
The development project is the brainchild of The Chagoury Group, which is based in Nigeria and was founded in 1971 by Gilbert R. Chagoury and Ronald Chagoury. The portfolio of activities includes construction and property development, flour mills, water bottling and purification, glass manufacturing, healthcare, insurance, hotels, furniture manufacturing, telecommunications, IT, catering and international financing.
In 2006 South Energyx Nigeria Limited, a group subsidiary, was awarded the concession to reclaim land, develop infrastructure and act as the exclusive authority over the development of Eko Atlantic city, next to Victoria Island in Lagos. South Energyx Nigeria Limited was specifically created to oversee the planning and development of Eko Atlantic, the new city of Lagos.
Daughter of slain Honduran environmental activist and indigenous leader, Berta Cáceres, to join dozens of community leaders on a caravan from Cleveland to Philadelphia
Honduran prize-winning campaigner Berta Caceres was slain by gunmen on March 3, 2016 weeks after opposing a hydroelectric dam project
On July 20, more than 45 grassroots Indigenous, Latin, Black, Asian, Muslim, and working class white organisers from across the country will board a bus and launch the It Takes Roots to Change the System People’s Caravan from the RNC to the DNC.
Convened by the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, the caravan brings together leaders on the frontlines of the some of the most cutting edge social movements within the US, including activists fighting on the frontlines of climate justice in coal-impacted Kentucky, organisers with movement for Black lives and environmental justice in Missouri, and immigrant rights leaders from across the country.
The People’s Caravan is a call to action from communities of colour and white folks to confront the growing acceptance and public condoning of racism and xenophobia; from women and trans people to reclaim feminisms for the grassroots; from communities living on the frontlines of polluting industries to build a new economy; from veterans and organised communities around the globe to end U.S. military intervention.
“We are in the middle of a storm. The system isn’t working, and we can’t depend on the two major political parties to change it. We believe it takes roots to weather the storm and change the system. We are drawing on our collective roots, across regions, borders, identities and issues.” – Cindy Wiesner, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Two members of Berta Cáceres’ organisation COPINH (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras) will be joining the caravan: Berta’s daughter, Laura Yolanda Zuñiga Cáceres, and Rosalina Dominguez Madrid. Berta Cáceres was an Indigenous Lenca woman in Honduras who was assassinated at night in her home on March 3, 2016, because of the organizing she did to defend the Lenca Indigenous Peoples’ land, rights and territory.
The assassinations of Berta Cáceres and other grassroots leaders in Honduras has put a spotlight on the critical role of US military aid to the repressive regime in Honduras. The caravan joins COPINH in the demand to end all US military aid to Honduras, supporting Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia’s congressional bill H.R. 5474 to halt all funds to Honduras for their police and military operations.
“Our struggle joins with struggles around the world to defend life in the face of weapons that try to quiet us, in the face of men in uniform who repress us, who assassinate us, in the face of those for whom our lives are disposable, as people with multiple bodies, with indigenous, black and rebel spirits,” said Laura Zuñíga Cáceres, daughter of assassinated Honduran indigenous leader Berta Cáceres and member of COPINH.
The Caravan will go from Cleveland to Philadelphia July 20-27, launching with a rally and press conference in Cleveland, and supporting actions and voter turnout in Ohio. The Caravan will then stop in Baltimore along the way to build with the Movement for Black Lives, to honor Freddie Gray and to strategise with the Black community around state violence. In Philadelphia, the Caravan will support actions around immigrant detentions and deportations through the Berks Detention Centre, and around challenging the toxic oil refinery expansion by Philadelphia Energy Solutions in neighborhoods of South Philadelphia. All along the route with powerful art, a giant puppet and visuals, It Takes Roots organisers will lift up the message that Berta Cáceres did not die when she was assassinated, she multiplied in the thousands of activists demanding justice for all communities’ struggles for land, water, and human rights.
“If 2016 has taught us anything, it’s that when people assert their right to break free from racism, sexism, transphobia, extractive economies, or any other oppression, the pushback will be hard and painful. We need to build within and among our communities in order to continue declaring that we’re in this together and we won’t be deterred,” Nay’Chelle Harris, Missourians Organising for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) in St. Louis.
Organisations collaborating with the It Takes Roots People’s Caravan: Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), Causa Justa/Just Cause, Chinese Progressive Association, Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), El Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agrícolas (CATA-The Farmworker Support Committee), Communities for a Better Environment, Grassroots International, Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Iraq Veterans Against the War, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, LeftRoots, Media Mobilising Project, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, Southern Maine Workers Centre, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), SouthWest Organising Project (SWOP), The Ruckus Society, Uprose, Vermont Workers Centre.
The Open-Ended Working Group of Parties will meet in Vienna, Austria, on 15 July 2016. On 22 and 23 July, nearly 40 ministers have committed to participate in the negotiations. Last year, Parties agreed to reach an agreement in 2016 on cutting down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are the fastest growing greenhouse gases in many countries.
Vienna, the Austrian capital, will host the Open-Ended Working Group of Parties meeting
Used as replacements for ozone-depleting substances, HFCs are used in refrigeration, air conditioning, insulation, aerosols, solvents and fire protection products. Successful talks in Vienna could lead to an agreement when the Parties meet in Kigali, Rwanda, in October 2016. Such an agreement will help establish an early, clear and ambitious schedule to phase down HFCs, improve appliance energy efficiency, and quickly arrest warming.
Nearly 178 countries to date have signed the Paris Agreement and 19 have ratified it. The international community recognises the urgency to take immediate measures to prevent global warming passing the 1.5ºC threshold.
The talks in Vienna will set the stage for an agreement on the amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase-down HFCs and presents the earliest opportunity for the international community to unite once again on another landmark environmental pact to protect the climate.
A rapid phasedown of HFCs could prevent more than 100 billion tonnes of CO2-e from entering the atmosphere over the next several decades and avoid 0.5°C warming by the end of the century. There are four proposals to the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs (from the North American countries, the European Union, India and the Island States.) There is strong political will to take these talks forward demonstrated by the several high-level ministers who will be present in Vienna.
In 1987, the Montreal Protocol was formed to address the depletion of the ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances. The success of that agreement, which has put the ozone layer on the path to recovery by 2065, calls for a repeat.
Civil society expectations from this meeting:
The talks in Vienna should set the tone for an agreement that will ensure an ambitious phase-down schedule for both developed and developing countries.
Developed countries need to lead on setting an ambitious phase-down schedule of HFCs so as to commercialise climate-friendly alternatives, make them competitive and build confidence for developing countries to transition.
Developed countries need to provide adequate funding and technology transfer under the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund to enable developing countries to remain on track with their phase-down schedule.
Additional fast start funding should be made available to developing countries to achieve energy efficiency gains including by improving the design of equipment using alternatives to HFCs.
The Ogun State Ministry of Forestry in collaboration with Tai Solarin University of Education has concluded plans to establish a zoological and botanical garden in the state.
A zoo habouring gorillas
Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal, made this known while signing the memorandum of understanding between the ministry and the university at the Council Chamber of the institution in Ijagun.
Chief Lawal said the ministry and the university decided to collaborate on the project due to its numerous socio-economic benefits that would accrue to the state, especially in boosting the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
While commending Governor Ibikunle Amosun for approving the commencement of the project, the commissioner said the ministry would ensure its success as it would lead to the provision of employment opportunities, particularly for the youths besides serving as a recreational centre for tourists.
In his remarks, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Institution, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu, said that the project would increase learning among students and ease the research work at the institution.
He expressed confidence over the fact that the strategic location of the project would attract travellers from all walks of life and increase the university’s (IGR) and project the university farther, when completed.
“GMOs, finally approved to be grown in Nigeria,” a not so surprising news after all. The country has in recent times been trotting in the darkness of instability and economic uncertainty and it’s just not a big surprise that the oil rich nation would make room for such a decision as to approving the much controversial new wonder of biotechnology that many and more advanced countries in the world have outrightly banned. This rather fast approval which from reports took just a record time of two months from the time of application by Monsanto could make the country the fastest endorser of GMO in the world. This seems just like another timely error with potential future consequences.
Critics fear genetically modified foods can cause environmental harm and damage human health. Photo credit: dailymail.co.uk
The authorisation reads thus: “After a thorough analysis of the application dossier, risk management plan prepared in connection with the assessment of the application for the permit, it is unlikely that the proposed release will cause adverse impact on the environment and on human health . A permit is therefore granted to the Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Ltd as applied for“ authoritatively signed by the Director General/Chief Executive officer of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), signed on the 1st of May 2016.
In the light of the National Biosafety Management Board granting the permit to Monsanto, it only seems normal to assume that every possible risk assessment test had been carried out within the context of confined trials. But upon reflecting on the details of the approval which only has a confidential base on the risk management plans as provided by the applying body (Monsanto) and which means that the risks would only be assessed after undergoing massive commercial field trials across the country, one can only reason out a not too clearly drawn objective of the National Biosafety management in providing the permit in the first instance without a proper and prior testing conducted by the agency itself.
Clearly, the institution is definitely putting the country at risk by subjecting its national responsibility to the mere speculative integrity of a foreign body that has overtime been a subject of worldwide criticism for its controversial history. Monsanto has been noted for introducing to the world some dangerous chemical compounds like DDT, Agent Orange, and Saccharin, all of which have been known to have a commonness of negative impact on human health.
Now that the company has assumed yet another role of spear heading the move for the global acceptance of GMOs, it is expected for any country approached to weigh out any decision to be taken on the scale of precautions.
Unfortunately, recent development has put Nigeria on the spotlight of being unhealthily receptive and desperate.
While there have been quite a lot of reports debunking the not-safe labeling on GMOs, still a larger percentage hold the conviction that they are not safe. Although it doesn’t entirely look like a well pronounced divided world, but the outright banning of GMOs in most countries (Importation and cultivation) and the constant call for labeling of food products of GMO origin say a lot about the acceptance level globally.
Current events in Nigeria place the country in the spotlight of economic instability, which has further exasperated the poverty level among the teeming population. So, the likelihood of desperation for alternatives for survival is not so far-fetched even in the face of consequential dangers. But then, in the view of instances of misguided priority of institutions meant to protect the choices of the populace, one would wonder where the fate of the common man lies.
Since the ban on street trading in Lagos by executive fiat of Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Amobode, which took effect from July 1, 2016, there was public outcry against the ban order. A lot of the commentaries in all the media – radio, television, social media and the newspapers – have overwhelmed readers and listeners of news. These commentaries are coming in umbrage/diatribe against the government by the affected street traders, members of the public sympathetic to the plight of street hawkers, highly respected newspaper columnists, in editorial comments and op-eds from social critics and public affairs commentators. This writer has digested through reading, personal discussion, or by listening to discussants on radio and watching the TV, a plethora of opinion on the good, bad and ugly effect of the ban on street trading in Lagos Mega City.
Street trading in Lagos
I must confess the frankness of the commentators whether for or against the ban, their feeling of empathy, social concern, their blame of the authority for a warped and unenforceable law; and some open suggestions on what the Lagos State Government can do to ameliorate the plight of street traders, in order to integrate this group of itinerant traders into the economic fabric of Lagos mega city.
Governor Ambode has a valid reason for his action. In another breath, I have had cause to read the strong defence of Governor Amode on the same issue. His Excellency has stoutly defended his action by stating that he did not enact a new law on street trading, but was doing his gubernatorial duty as the Chief Law Enforcer in the State of Excellence. He was trying to enforce a subsisting law on the ban of street trading, which he met in office. The law was enacted during the tenure of his predecessor, but like the bane of governance and our less civic-minded society, it what observed more in breach than compliance by the street hawkers, while the law enforcers remain toothless bull dogs who looked the other way and abysmally failed to enforce the law.
To support the reason for the “new day” enforcement of the law, Governor Ambode dwelt extensively on the recent wanton destruction and burning of 49 BRT buses by irate mob in Lagos as a result of the fatal accident, which killed a street hawker being chased by officials of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI), for hawking in traffic. That ugly incident, as reported, caused the LASG a colossal financial loss to the tune of N139 million. By LASG’s calculation, the said amount was the estimated sum that the government would cough up to replace the burnt 49 BRT buses. Surprisingly too, it was disclosed by the LASG authority that the deceased street hawker was not killed by any state-owned BRT buses, but by another vehicle whose driver absconded the scene of the accident for fear of being lynched by the angry mob. Another vexed issue for the governor’s justification was the unnecessary/unjustified public disorder and spontaneous reaction, which led to the burning of government buses by idle hands roaming the streets of Lagos. Governor Ambode would not take any of such acts of lawlessness in a city under his watch and a government administration under his leadership. He therefore, took a drastic and on-the-spur-of-the-movement decision to ban street trading in the megalopolis.
There is consensus of opinion on the adverse effect of street trading. None of the commentaries on the ban ever failed to tell the truth about the adverse effects of street trading. The critics made mention of the security implication, environmental nuisance, social implication, the eye sore vis-à-vis its unfriendly tourism appeal; and what it does to the smooth flow of traffic in a mega city notorious for traffic congestion.
General consensus against the ban on street trading. Many a commentator including the hoi polli posited that the good-intentioned law against street trading may ended up doing more harm than good if the provisions of the statute are enforced to the letter. There is palpable apprehension where all the army of street hawkers would be sent to after their evacuation from the streets of Lagos, without an alternative plan or places to accommodate their daily trading activities. Without such plan, another grave fear was expressed…the trigger of crime among idle hands. To these commentators, the ban on street trading is an ill-wind that does nobody (government, traders and the citizenry) any good.
Street trading is a dominant informal sector healthy to the macro city economy. The proponents of street trading argued vehemently in their defence that street trading is part of city economy, not only in Nigeria but all over the world. They should allow the street hawkers to stay regardless of the nuisance the traders constitute on the streets. They argued that street traders have their nuisance value. In comparison to cities in other clime, the proponents made mention of permissible street trading in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Rio de Jainero, Brisbane, Recife, Canberra, Christchurch, Auckland, Mumbai, Cairo, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Oslo and many other cities in all continents of the world. Hence, they opined that the LASG ought to emulate the good examples from cities around the world and learn how street trading can be incorporated as a permissible or tolerated city-based economic activity, without causing any rancor or disaffection between government officials and those eking a living on the streets of Lagos.
It is easier said than done. The suggestion made by the defenders of street trading looks good on paper and can quickly win support of the public against the cruel (?) action taken by the LASG. Albeit, the critics put a proviso in their statement: Street trading in all the aforementioned cities is regulated by city ordinance and issuance of street trading license to prospective traders. However, what they inadvertently failed to expose in their argument is the central issue this piece will now address from this point on.
Street trading in other clime is a function of city ordinance, law enforcement and a disciplined society. In all the cities cited as best practices of street trading, compliance with street trading laws is a norm by practice. The enforcement of the law by city officials is never done half-heartedly or compromised by whoever is delegated to perform such function. All the key players carry out their responsibilities without let or hindrance. In all of these cities, there are strong institutions in-charge of street trading and an enlightened citizenry who willfully obey the law without being prompted or forced to do so. The level of literacy is also high, which is a fillip to civilised conduct among the residents of these cities.
Can anybody vouch for such situation in Lagos? Is there a Lagos without law breakers or venal public officials who intentionally take advantage of hapless and mostly uneducated people just because these government officials are the anointed enforcers of the law? Can anyone easily forget KAI officials recorded on tape while demanding for bribe from street hawkers they arrested for violating street trading law? How law-abiding are we in this country to government regulations where strongmen dictate the tune instead of building strong institutions for effective governance? I have searched for suitable answers to these valid questions without success. Readers, I need your help and honest opinion. But if I can hazard the root cause of the problem, I can affirm that we are a peculiar society with uncommon peculiar situation. And in all practicality, what works in other climes never works in this society. We will need peculiar or home grown solutions to street trading in Lagos where every goods under the sun are offered for sale on the streets ranging from live animals, Viagra, opa eyin, sausage, stolen phones, clothing apparels, children toys, sex objects, pirated books, human body parts, wigs, shoes to all kinds of edibles and soft drinks.
I will now advance my next line of reasoning.
The role of planning and planners in street trading. What the doctor does to a sick person by prescribing a drug to cure an aliment is what a town or city planner does to a city with an identified problem be it traffic congestion, inadequate housing, mobility, functionality, street trading or environmental pollution. To ameliorate these problems, the planner will soul-search for the cause(s) by assessing current situation with the aid of available data or cause one to be generated by him/her. After the diagnostic stage, he/she will postulate and make recommended solutions for official consideration and implementation. My subtle inference here is that street trading in Lagos, to the untrained minds can be attributed to the prevailing harsh economic conditions; but a trained mind in town planning would see it more of a matter that requires innovative/creative urban planning intervention. As one of the writers said, “it takes creativity and compassionate planning” to deal with street trading in Lagos. I pitch my tent with that logic.
I have documentary evidence and a best practice from off shore to support my stance.
Preparation of Model City Plan (MCP) in Lagos is a positive sign of Government intervention in planning. The LASG is trying its level best to improve livability in all the nooks and crannies of Lagos Cosmo polis through the instrumentality of Model City Plans for different planning districts of the megacity. There are in existence Victoria/Ikoyi MCP, Agege-Ifako MCP and Ikeja MCP while others are already on the drawing board. Of the latest and more contemporary approach to planning in Lagos was the robust idea mooted by action Governor Ambode to develop a Smart City Lagos, having signed a memorandum of understanding with Smart City Dubai on July 11, 2016 to that effect. These are laudable steps in the right direction. But the pressing question is: Despite Government good intentions have any of the subsisting MCPs factored in the problem of street trading and proffered practical solution to the menace? This writer’s study of the operative MCPs do not provide an answer in the affirmative. The MCPs dealt extensively on present and future land uses in most of the districts; but fell short on the problems associated with ambulatory speed of urban growth in a city like Lagos; and how to specifically deal with them, most especially the irritant city nuisance called: street trading. Whether in Ikeja, Lagos Island, Ikoyi or the outer districts of the mega city where street trading is common place, the MCPs offer no concrete recommendations.
Where there is a will and mind of creativity, planners can do awesome job to turn city chaos to orderliness. There is a global best practice in urban planning where under the leadership of a maverick planner/architect and his team of dedicated staff, turned the city of Curitiba in Brazil from chaos to creative planning. That world-acclaimed urban planner was Jaime Lerner, who single-handedly came up with an innovative planning strategy in combating street trading in an unsettling city, where before he became mayor in 1988 (Wikipedia), Curitiba was bereft of good urban planning. Lerner was more ingenious in practical and rational urban planning solution than theory of the subject matter. He came up with the idea to pedestrianise a gridlocked commercial artery into a pedestrian mall where street traders harmoniously hawk their wares in the open along with other shopkeepers. Jaime Lerner’s tactical planning (short-term action for long-term change) by a single person, is a best practice the LASG planning authority must encourage to go and understudy; and replicate the idea in some streets of Lagos where such planning revolution can be feasible. After all, the State Government went to understudy Curitiba’s BRT operation (another brain child of Jaime Lerner) before the idea was replicated in Lagos in 2008.
Categorisation of street trading in Lagos is another feasible option. Planning is a cluster of dispositions, which people tolerate more than embrace. By planning disposition, I mean orderly arrangement of the physical space in such a way that it will be “user-friendly” to all. It is being suggested that the LASG Planning Authority in consultation with allied ministries which are key players in Lagos urban affairs, should begin a categorisation of Lagos streets with regards to street trading as follows:
Designation of Off-limit streets for automobiles: Streets in this category cannot be accessed by automobiles during certain hours of the day when commercial activity is at its peak. Such streets are for pedestrians use only during the designated timeframe. Balogun, Nnamdi Azikwe, Martins streets, Tinubu Square, Idumota and Ereko axis on Lagos Island can be chosen as pedestrianised streets pilot schemes.
Prohibited streets for street trading: As the name implies, these are streets where street trading is totally banned. These are heavily-trafficked thoroughfare or urban roads with high day time traffic such as Allen Avenue, Airport Road in Ikeja, Ikorodu Road or Awolowo and Kingsway Roads in Ikoyi, the Ozunmba Mbadiwe axis and the Lekki Expressway can be designated as such. The competing use of space between motorists and itinerant traders on some busy arterial roads in the mega city does not augur well for smooth traffic flow. It creates distraction at the peril of motorists, while causing avoidable traffic congestion.
Consent streets: Most streets are permissible streets (with the exception of the two classified above) where street trading is allowed and where hawkers will not be bothered by KAI.
The LASG is advised to do a pilot scheme as a demonstration effect, in order to create a scenario that everyone can see and feel about how planning initiative can turn chaos to creativity. The government is also advised to create a “dialogue window” as a feedback mechanism (from street users and other stakeholders) to know how effective the plan is working and to also find out areas of improvement. Government must continue to update its initiatives and adapt to unfolding realities. Technical approach without public participation can sometime create resentment of the authority by the citizenry.
Lagos residents should rally support for Governor Ambode in his quest and burning desire of making Lagos a user-friendly city. The Governor has good intentions. A city where no law is obeyed, gives room for anarchy. The uncivilised conduct of a group of itinerant traders should never be the determinant of urbanism as a way of life, for the rest of innocent and law abiding residents of the mega city. I subscribe to the school of thought that street trading cannot be wished away as part of urban living in Lagos. Governor Ambode should throw a challenge to the city managers/planning technocrats in Lagos State to come up with a feasible plan on how to regulate the activity of street hawkers on a city-wide basis. In governance, there must be a meeting point between the government and the governed on any contentious issue of interest to both parties. Government cannot tolerate urban vagabonds and unruly public conduct. Governor Ambode is farsighted. He has lofty dreams for Lagos Mega City. It is incumbent on all Lagos residents to be on the same page with this vibrant man of vision.
By Tpl. Yacoob Abiodun (former Secretary, National Housing Policy Council, Urban Planner, Planning Advocate)
Within the next four years, the Lagos State Government will plant some four million trees to add to the six million already planted in the past eight years.
Dr. Samuel Adejare, Lagos State Environment Commissioner (left) and Mr. Tunji Bello, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), planting a tree to observe 2016 World Tree Planting Day
This will be in fulfillment of its resolve to plant 10 million trees by 2020 which, government officials say, was informed by the desire to mitigate the impact of climate change.
So far, the state government has planted about six million trees since the launch of its much vaunted tree planting campaign in 2008.
Speaking at the 2016 Tree Planting Day ceremony that held on Thursday at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Camp, Orile-Agege area of Lagos, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode disclosed that his administration was working frantically to meet the target of planting 10 million trees by 2020.
He said the annual event was one of the most reliable and cheapest means of combating the effect of global warming and climate change, adding that planting of trees was very important for the environment as trees provide oxygen, cool the atmosphere, help conserve energy, save water and prevent erosion.
The theme of this year’s tree planting is: “Lend a hand to save trees.”
Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello, noted that the peculiarity of Lagos as a coastal city-state makes it prone to several environmental challenges, which demanded that the government and the citizens of the state carried out infrastructural development without jeopardising the environment.
“The fast growing urban development areas across the state must curtail the uncontrolled felling of trees and ensure all developers adhere to all the town planning and greening regulations. We must plant trees to replace those removed from vast acres of land so that we reduce the rate of ocean surge and erosion with its attendant problem of displacement of homes and communities,” he said.
The governor further said scientists had stated that the world needed about 30 billion trees annually and that “if the last tree dies, no human will survive. A world without trees is a world without life so we must resolve as a people, to ensure that we not only save our trees but plant more trees. As a country, if we resolve to plant one million trees per state every year, we shall be able to achieve 360 million trees by the next decade which will go a long way to protect our nation.”
He said the government remained committed to the cause of tree planting and would vigorously pursue the state greening policy of total regeneration of degraded sites, while urging the private sector to partner with the government, as only a collective action by all could tackle the environmental problem of global warming and flooding.
Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Samuel Adejare, said the tree-planting programme would further help in propagating the green revolution campaign geared towards climate change mitigation and adaptation.
He charged residents of Lagos to imbibe the culture of tree planting in order to beautify the environment, adding that planting trees had helped to convert criminal hideouts and open spaces into orchids and woodlands.
Adejare stated that while it was generally agreed that trees were needed to make furniture, food and others, government was against indiscriminate felling of trees as it would bring about ecological imbalance.
The Land Use Act of 1978 and the relatively young National Biosafety Management Act of 2015 may end up being repealed if recommendations put forward by a think-tank eventually see the light of the day.
Panel 2: Pollution and Clean-up (oil, industrial effluents), Water, Wastes (solid waste, medical waste, military waste etc.), comprising Celestine Akpobari, Ken Henshaw, Prof Ife Ken, Kola Lawal, Emem Okon and Akinbode Oluwafemi (facilitator)
While the biosafety law was described as weak as a regulatory tool and thus open to the introduction of the controversial GMOs (genetically modified organisms), the land act is said to be stifling smooth access to land and as such curbing physical and economic development.
These formed part of the agreements arrived at recently by a 41-member team of experts who deliberated for three days in Abuja under the Environmental Strategic Agenda Setting programme organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEv) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Apart from the biosafety law and land act that were recommended for review or an outright repeal, the gathering, which featured five panel discussion groups, also listed a number of seemingly non-performing policies and laws as well as administrative/research matters for overhaul.
For instance, amid the review of national state and forestry laws, it was suggested that environmental sanitation laws should be revamped to include roles for sanitation inspectors and enforcement officers.
While extending the environmental and community provisions of the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 to cover the petroleum sector and oil field communities, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) acts were likewise mentioned for urgent attention.
The review of the EIA laws will include health Impact assessments, while that of the NESREA Act should remove representation from the petroleum sector on its Board, especially since that sector is not regulated by NESREA, recommended the forum, adding that, henceforth, insurance schemes for environmental related diseases be included in environmental health laws.
Constitutional amendment, they added, should entail:
moving environment from chapter 2 to chapter 4 of the constitution;
removing petroleum from exclusive legislative list;
enacting a composite Environmental Management and Protection Act that will deal with issues of gas flaring, oil spills solid minerals mining pollution etc;
reviewing and establishing legislation in line with section 14(b) of the Constitution to empower communities to have control over their land, territories nature and cultural heritages; and,
amending Section 20 of the Constitution and create justifiable rights for environmental protection.
While the National Policy on Environment should now include specific sections on food and agriculture, the energy policy should, on the other hand, lay emphasis on renewable energy provision and including actively discouraging the use if firewood as domestic energy source.
Furthermore, in the absence of one, the establishment of a National Policy of Wetlands was recommended, even as a review of the National Policy on Water Supply was recommended to, essentially, provide the template for actions to lift water supply burdens from households, especially on women.
Review of the Climate Change Policy was also championed to, according to the participants, emphasise references to environmental degradation and gender impacts because of the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and the need to reflect these in mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Other environment/climate related policy reviews were listed to include:
reviewing policies on pesticides and dangerous chemicals, including glysophate;
developing policy on new and emerging technologies, including synthetic biology and geo-engineering;
recogniising the importance of regional environmental policies and directives (ECOWAS, AU);
reviewing waste management policies and laws to include such areas as military and warfare wastes; and,
upgrading disaster management policies.
Administrative and Research Matters include:
Having a regular National State of the Environment Report – g this would provide baseline for measuring environmental change in the country
Intentional stakeholders approach to regulation and institutional positioning.
Institutionalise an Annual National Consultation on the Environment (ANCE).
Having more CSO representatives on the technical committees on environment. Have the stakeholders on environment meet some two days before the ANCE so that their recommendations feed into the agenda of the deliberations.
Periodic review of policies with the histories of such policies from the beginning of such policies.
Creation of a National Stakeholder Committee on environment.
Promotion of agroecology and steps to include it in schools’ curriculum.
Environmental policies developed to recognise and clearly identify the relationship between the sustainable management of natural systems and macro-level policy in other sectors of the economy.
Policies should clearly state how implementation would be ensured in terms of capacity and funding.
Fine for gas flaring should be the commercial cost of gas flared.
Conduct a lead contamination study for data bank.
Improved funding for regulatory agencies.
Work with the Ministry of Water Resources to review the present water policy.
Policy must be based on a collaborative production of natural resource balance sheets that account for land values, subsoil assets, livestock, forests as tangible assets to be used in the evaluation of the sustainability of economic activity and the long term conservation of natural resources.
The discussion panels at the workshop included:
Panel 1: State of the Nigerian Environment (overview, baseline, etc.), Climate, Conflicts (herders-farmers conflicts) and Deforestation/Desertification (Great Green Wall, mangroves, land use and conversions, plantations, etc.) – Mohammed Bello Tukur, Ken Henshaw, Prof Haruna Ayuba, Dr Ladipo Olajide, Prof Francis Adesina, Ms. Betty Abah, Prof M.T. Okorodudu-Fubara and Nnimmo Bassey (facilitator).
Panel 2: Pollution and clean up (Oil, industrial effluents), Water, Wastes (Solid waste, medical waste, military waste etc.) – Celestine Akpobari, Ken Henshaw, Prof Ife Ken, Kola Lawal, Emem Okon and Akinbode Oluwafemi (facilitator).
Panel 3: Agriculture, Biosafety and Environmental Health – Ms. Mariann Orovwuje, MallamNaseer Kura, Dr Celestine Aguoru, Dr Robert Onyeneke and Dr. Ako Amadi (facilitator)
Panel 5: Environmental Policies, Laws and Regulations (including environmental governance and research) – Prof M. T. Okorodudu-Fubara, Chima Williams, Charles Aholu, Nurudeen Ogbara, Alade Adeleke, Dr Ako Amadi and Dr Henry Sawyer (facilitator).
