House razings to save Niger capital's forest shield dismay locals

Hamissou Issiakou grumbled as he worked to strip bare his house, marked for demolition for illegally encroaching on the tip of green forest that's keeping the expanding desert at bay from Niger's capital. Director General of Water and Forests within the environment ministry Yacouba Seybou said on state television that since 2004 "decrees have prohibited housing in the (green) belt".

source https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/house-razings-to-save-niger-capitals-forest-shield-dismay-locals/articleshow/123049985.cms