Illegal Tree Felling: FG to establish environmental crimes tribunal — Minister

Simisola AdigunJuly 12, 2024

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The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal has said that the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) has a critical role to play in the Federal Government’s efforts to arrest forest degradation.

The minister said this during a familiarisation visit to FRIN headquarters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Thursday.

Accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Mahmud Ahmed Kambari, the minister said: “The forest cover of Nigeria is about 3.7%. That is a far cry from the 25% minimum for each country”.

He said the government is coming up with several policies to address the issue. “One is to plant as many trees as possible across the states.”

He said that the World Bank-supported Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) Project would partner with FRIN to supply seedlings for the former’s land restoration activities, especially in the North.

The environment minister added that other initiatives, such as the Pan-African Great Green Wall, which comprises 11 countries including Nigeria, were also in place to establish forest cover that would prevent further the encroachment of the Sahara Desert southwards.