ABUJA – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said his government has approved the sum of 8.5 million US Dollars under the Presidential Initiative on Afforestation to sustain forest management and massive afforestation.
President Tinubu in his Remarks made available to journalists in Abuja on Thursday stated this at the ongoing First International
Conference on Afforestation and Reforestation holding in Brazzaville, Congo.
He noted that Nigeria has gone a long way in contributing to the reversal of forest cover loss through sustainable forest management and massive afforestation.
“As part of our determination to upscale forest financing and increase forest cover, Government has recently approved the sum of 8.5 million US Dollars under the Presidential Initiative on Afforestation.
” These funds are mainly for the afforestation and restoration of degraded forests and other critical landscapes across the country. This is in addition to other similar programmes like the Great Green Wall Pan African Program and Agro-Climatic Resilience Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL) being implemented resulting in the restoration of over 1.5 million hectares of degraded forests including establishment of over 1,428.9km Shelterbelts covering 4,286 hectares, empowerment of more than 200,000 forest community members and creation of more than 3 million jobs for our youths,” he stated.
President Tinubu who spoke through the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal said Nigeria remains committed to global, regional and sub-regional consensus to promote and accelerate progress on sustainable forest management.
Such efforts he noted include; the COP27 Africa and Global Decade of Afforestation and Reforestation and COP26 Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use as well as, other key outcomes of COP28.
” Ladies and Gentlemen, as parties to the globally agreed goals and targets on forests, biodiversity, climate change, and SDGs, we have no choice but to do all within our powers to accelerate transformative delivery of these goals within the set timelines.
“Restoration of our forest should not only be the responsibility of governments alone. It must be the collective effort of Government, Non-government organizations, corporate/private organizations, civil societies, and communities. We should all strive to achieve the common goal of increasing global forest cover, ” he stressed.
Continuing; President Tinubu said that the choice of Congo for this conference is apt taking into consideration the contribution of Africa’s deforestation around the world.
” We are all here to remedy the situation by bringing together leading experts, policymakers, researchers and practitioners from around the globe to share knowledge, exchange ideas and foster collaborations. Our goal is to develop and implement innovative and scientific strategies for afforestation and reforestation which will in turn restore degraded lands, enhance biodiversity and mitigate the impacts of climate change.”
He maintained that regional and global cooperation like this is imperative and will foster development of appropriate regional transformative policy and legal framework capable of mitigating the impacts of climate change.
” Through initiatives like this we will accomplish progressive adoption and implementation of climate smart agriculture practices that would assist in striking balance between food security and sustainable forest management.
” Relevant policy and legislative framework are being strengthened in response to the current and emerging circumstances we are faced with. We have recently placed an interim suspension on the export of wood-based products to enable adequate appraisal of the process and ultimately emplacement of a sustainable forest management trade complaint system without jeopardizing progress in the implementation of the UNSPF, NDC, and other global agreements.”
He congratulated President Denis Sassou Nguesso for the successfully hosting the historic conference and for providing an opportunity for the world to be free from planetary emergencies of global warming and other associated disasters.
” I would also like to congratulate the African Union and United Nations Forum on Forests under the auspices of whom the conference is taking place.
” I am optimistic about the catalytic effect of this Conference as we thrive together to increase the global forest cover for our collective benefits. Together, we shall indeed make our planet a safer place for us and future generations to come. I wish us a successful and productive deliberations.”