This year, the world environment day is focusing on the theme: “land restoration, desertification and drought resilience”.
The NNPC foundation is using this time to promote its tree planting campaign by engaging more than 500 school students in each state across the six geopolitical zones to take part in planting trees.
Nigeria boasts of some of the richest flora land and faunal biodiversity in Africa, but they are threatened by man’s activities and climate change.
Nigeria has the highest deforestation rate in the world accounting for only about an estimated 3.7 percent forest cover.
In addition, 15 out of the 36 states in northern Nigeria are affected by desertification and 63.3 percent of the nation’s entire land mass suffers desert encroachment.
Experts at an event to mark the world environment day want measures put in place and solutions towards mitigating and tackling land erosion, desertification and drought.
The NNPC foundation says through partnership with the ministry of environment and other agencies, it is embarking and continuing its school tree planting campaign involving more than 500 school children to vegetate the environment through aggressive tree planting campaign
The benefit of Nigeria’s biodiversity is estimated to be over 8 billion dollars annually.
Nigeria’s ministry of environment says the benefits of investing in nature are enormous.
The NNPC foundation is also partnering with state governments like the Kaduna state government to plant 1m trees and the initiative will begin later in July.
