FG to plant six million trees for enhanced forests
02 October 2024 |
3:00 am
The Federal Government has concluded arrangements to plant at least six million trees to meet 25 per cent cover of its degraded forests before the end of 2024.
The Federal Government has concluded arrangements to plant at least six million trees to meet 25 per cent cover of its degraded forests before the end of 2024.
Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako, dropped the hint yesterday during the tree planting campaign launch at the University of Abuja. He said the government was committed to increasing its forest cover to meet the recommended percentage cover to promote sustainable forest management and conservation, enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, and support climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Speaking on “The forest is a library; every tree is a book,” yesterday on the occasion of the nation’s 64th independence anniversary, he noted: “It is symbolic that we are gathered here at UNIABUJA for our national unity to reaffirm our commitment to protecting our planet’s precious resources.”
The minister stressed: “As we plant these trees, we acknowledge the urgent need for climate action, recognising the importance of biodiversity conservation and emphasising community engagement in environmental protection.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mission for the environment is to: Promote eco-friendly practices, support reforestation efforts and foster a culture of sustainability and the Great Green Wall (GGW) Programme: A 15-kilometre-wide green belt across 11 states to combat desertification.”
Executed in collaboration with Eki Co-Net, the ‘Grow Green Tree Planting Exercise’, highlights the role of trees in enhancing the economy and addressing hardship in schools.
The government said the initiative aims to instil environmental consciousness and promote sustainable practices among students.The minister stressed the importance of engaging youths in environmental initiatives.
The minister lauded Eki Co-Net for developing tools to monitor the health and growth of trees, acknowledging the challenge of ensuring a high survival rate for new samplings.
Salako said: ‘The strength in Africa is nature, and that is why we have always promoted nature-based solutions like tree planting that we’re doing, but we cannot, but also utilise technology, capture, carbon capture technologies are very critical.
“Eki Co-Net is coming up with something that can help us monitor how trees are thriving. I think that it is very excellent if we can deploy that because we plant a lot of trees, and a lot of times you see that the survival rates of those trees are not enough because we are not able to monitor them effectively.”
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Eki Co-Net, Godwin Aigboviose Omage, spotlighted the broader impact of the initiative. He noted that the tree planting was to inspire a sense of responsibility towards the environment while highlighting the vital role trees play in economic sustainability.
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