The estimated two hundred million Nigerians will enjoy enhanced living conditions and wellbeing if stakeholders put up deliberate efforts to reclaim nothing less than three hundred and fifty thousand hectares of lost forest every year starting from now.
Director General, Nigeria Conservation Foundation, NCF, Dr. Munktari Aminu-Kano made the remark during the flag off of tree planting exercise across the nation’s six Geo-political zones.
The exercise is being carried out by NCF in partnership with ATC Nigeria Wireless Infrastructure Limited (ATC NIGERIA) ,while the event was held at Chief Akintola Williams Arboretum Garden, Lekki Conservation Centre in Lagos.
Dr Aminu- Kano who harped on the importance of trees planting exercise, explained that forests help to regulate the environment against the backdrop of pollution, provide foods for the teeming masses, offers shelter as well as give medicinal value to mankind daily.
The DG opined that ”Nigeria has one of the largest forest destruction index in the world. The trees protect the watershed and by destroying trees we are indirectly pulling down the forest”.
”You have more water where you have more trees. You have soil that are enriched where you have trees and by destroying the trees through deforestation one is bound to lose the high services provided henceforth”
Speaking on the challenges often faced in forest preservation, Dr. Aminu-Kano stressed that illegal logging of trees particularly the rare species, often taken to some Asia countries to earn more foreign exchanges by some individuals put the nation’s forest at a receiving end while the buyers have the benefits.
He added that agricultural expansion by land cultivators had also put more pressure on the forest through uncontrollable burning of trees yearly.
”The challenge of protecting the trees against animal intrusion where you planted them had become a major problem over the years in forest preservation. On several occasions, the trees are destroyed after planting by animals’ which often put the efforts of the foresters at nullity”.
Dr Aminu-Kano urged the stakeholders to take back the forest from the people hibernating therein to trigger insecurity across the nation through the aid of forest guards and other relevant security agencies in the nation.
In all, sixty trees were planted by stakeholders during the flagg off exercise while the train moved to another geopolitical zone for its continuation.
