A Professor in the School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, United States of America, Professor Mark Morgan has called for early exposure and education of children on best natural resources management practices.
Making this call at the International Summit on Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Management organised by the College of Environmental Resources Management (COLERM) of the University, Professor Morgan said children should be made to value natural resources from a young age because eventually the task of sustaining natural resources on them.
Suggesting the right age when exposure to education on natural resources management for children should begin, the University don said it should start right from elementary school as the future depends on the proper management of natural resources.
According to Professor Morgan, “Try and teach the children how to manage natural resources from elementary, junior and senior schools”.
He challenged older people to maintain optimal natural resources management because of its effects on the future generation, stressing that any decision taken today will determine what will happen to natural resources tomorrow.
Professor Morgan also admonished Natural Resources Managers to ensure a balance in their research activities and engage in researches that will benefit the public. He stressed that for the conservation of the world’s natural resources to be taken seriously, people should be educated on the impact, importance and effect of climate change.
He advised that all hands should be on deck in the task of ensuring proper natural resources management stating that more summits, collaborations and researches would enhance the potentials of our natural resources.
Earlier in his Keynote Address, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kolawole Salako commended the organisers of the Summit comprising the University of Missouri, USA, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan and the University du Agriculture, Benin Republic for the intellectual discourse which he said is expected to lead to the establishment of an agreement that will bring about further collaborations.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, “My expectation, therefore, is that the summit will lead to establishment of an agreement to foster international cooperation, research and academic development via exchange of educational and research materials, exchange of faculty and research personnel as well as collaboration on acquisition of grants for research work of common interests”.
Corroborating the Vice Chancellor, the Dean COLERM, Professor Tunde Omoniyi who disclosed that the objective of the summit is to promote staff exchange, research collaboration and to encourage students training, solicited for enhanced partnership among institutions all over the world to proffer solutions to the challenges facing humanity.
