NCF launches ‘Green Recovery’ to restore forest rehabilitation in Nigeria‎

In a bid to halt Nigeria’s declining forest cover which was about 40 per cent, but now less than five per cent of the total land area of the country, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) has launched the ‘Green Recovery Nigeria’ with the aim of developing a strategic action plan and road map towards forest rehabilitation in the country.

The Director General of the NCF, Adeniyi Karunwi, described the GRN Initiative at the two-day summit held recently, as a national programme that belongs to all Nigerians including religious bodies, production entities, institutions and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

“It is my hope therefore that we shall all strive to give this initiative the required facelift and stimulus needed to drive Nigeria’s forests back to the minimum global standard of at least 25 percent over the next 30 years (2017 – 2047).”

Mr. Karunwi said the GRN as an initiative “to accommodate ongoing efforts in the forest sector, operationalise voluntary carbon markets to create employment opportunities, enhance community resilience to climate change, as well as support forestation and reforestation projects across Nigeria.”

“NCF is therefore an encyclopedia of conservation knowledge in Nigeria with over three decades of cumulative learning and experience.”

“Our efforts in communities and protected areas over the years brought over 700,000 hectares of forestland and more than six species of endangered animals (Elephants, Chimpanzees, Pangolins, Mandrills, Vultures, Ibadan Malimbe, etc) under our direct management in Nigeria.

The Green Recovery Nigeria (GRN) is an initiative of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and an intervention model to institute local action and retain a significant proportion of Nigeria’s landmass under forest in response to global call on climate change mitigation due to the growing concerns about the alarming rate of forest degradation and deforestation leading to significant loss of forest cover and the associated wildlife.