The Federal Government of Nigeria has called on national and international stakeholders on the need to increase investment in tree planting to mitigate the effects of climate change, especially on food production.
The Minister of Environment, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, made the call while presiding over the inauguration ceremony of the new governing council of the National Forestry Trust Fund (NFTF) in Abuja.
Abdullahi identified increased investments in tree planting as well as technical capacity building for stakeholders and stronger collaboration with national and international partners as vital ingredients in achieving a virile forestry sector.
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According to the minister, the federal government has taken some steps to address these problems, including the design and strengthening of policies as well as modifications to institutional and legal frameworks.
He noted that the NFTF was created to address the issues impeding Nigeria’s forestry management and development as well as to address the underfunding of the forestry industry by offering extra and complementary sources of funding to support government budgets.
In his words, “It envisages funding support from international donors, corporate organisations, private sector, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) and individual resources for sustenance and to leveraging the seed fund from the CITES permit to carry out forestry development activities in the past few years.”
Story was adapted from ThisDay
