Tree Cover Crisis: Nigeria to plant three trees for every one cut down

The Federal Ministry of Environment has recently proposed three trees to be planted for every one tree cut down, to boost its fight against the tree cover crisis.

The Minister, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, during an interview in Abuja, said that Nigeria is experiencing a severe environmental crisis – tree cover crisis – due to illegal logging and charcoal production.

According to Lawal, 25 per cent is the minimum tree cover recommended for ecological balance, however, Nigeria’s tree cover is just 3.7 per cent.

He blamed illegal logging and charcoal production for the tree cover crisis.

“This is a serious crisis”, Lawal said.

“We are facing a shortage of tree cover that exacerbates issues like lack of oxygen and increased carbon dioxide levels in our communities. Immediate action is required to reverse this trend”.

The minister attributed the dramatic loss of tree cover to illegal logging and charcoal production.

“In the last 20 years, we’ve lost almost all our tree cover due to these activities,” he said. “People from other countries, including China, come to export our trees, depleting our natural resources while they maintain higher tree cover in their own nations.”

To recover from this loss, the minister proposed a new policy that three trees should be planted for every one cut down.

He also explained why the Federal Executive Council proposed bid to address deforestation, he said the Federal Executive Council recently approved the policy of cooking with gas. “This policy promotes the use of gas and other alternatives to prevent further tree felling,” Lawal explained.

He urged all citizens, including youths, women and other community stakeholders, to achieve the ministry’s goal of planting at least 100 million trees.

“We can do much more,Ethiopia has planted over 2 billion trees. If they can do it, we can too”, Lawal affirmed.