Two communities in Rivers State, Okwuzi and Erema, have benefited from training in forest conservation and energy-efficient stove production. 

This initiative aims to combat deforestation and mitigate the severe impacts of climate change in Nigeria.

Idongesit Alexander, Programme Officer at Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, elaborated on the program’s objectives in an interview with journalists. The community dialogue focused on forest conservation, encouraging communities to plant more trees to replace those harvested, thereby combating climate change. 

Alexander emphasised the importance of tree planting, explaining that trees release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. By planting more trees, the environment can be improved, and the effects of climate change can be reduced. The training aims to instil the value of tree planting in the participants.

Participants from Okwuzi expressed their commitment to planting trees in their community, while those from Erema appealed to the government for support in planting more trees to protect them from the impacts of climate change.

In his remarks, Umo Isiah Ikoh of Environmental Justice and Peace Building said the training was part of efforts by the NGO to conserve the forest from more deforestation through over use by the community for domestic purposes. According to him, “the efficient firewood stove will help reduce the negative impact on our forest.”

He further said that communities in Akwa Ibom State like Ibono have been trained and that they are today benefiting from the knowledge they acquired.

When asked why the training, he said that the aim was to impact knowledge that could protect the environment.

He further explained that the material used for the production of the stove include clay, water and dust, and that the government at all levels should facilitate more training in more communities to reduce the impact of climate change.

Nkem Odoya in her remarks told journalists that the training was about entrepreneurship and skill development which would help to preserve livelihood.

Odoya, who is one of the resource persons, said that the importance of forest and its sustainability was critical and crucial to the wellbeing of community members.

She stressed that the impact of climate change was enormous but that the training would help to mitigate it through awareness creation. “Sustainability is preservation and it is for the future generations,” she said.

Some of the participants expressed gratitude to Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre and Women Environmental Programme for the training, saying that it would help them to preserve the forest, the animals and fishes for the sake of the future generations.

“We have benefited and we can plant trees and keep the forest in our communities and the forest will bring a lot of benefits to us; we will start to put into practice what they have taught us,” the participants said.