By Jude Njoku

The United Nations estimates that a total of 78 billion trees would be planted to save our earth. Against this background, the Founder of Fight Against Desert Encroachment, FADE, Dr Newton Jibunoh has called for stakeholders’ collaboration to save the country’s forest reserves from further depletion.

Noting that Nigeria had 43 percent cover at independence in 1960, he regretted that this has reduced to a mere six percent. Dr Jibunoh, insisted that “it is only by planting trees that we can save our planet”.

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Instead of doing lavish birthday and funeral parties, Dr Jibunoh advised Nigerians to mark such events with the planting of a wall of trees. “By so doing, you are leaving a legacy and helping to mitigate against the disastrous consequences of climate change,” he said.

“These trees control the air that we breathe and the water we drink. By cutting down trees and not replacing them, we are doing a lot of damage to our health,” he said. Buttressing the point, the FADE founder said a lot of people are having eye problems today because of the dusty air that affects the sight. “The water we drink is also controlled by the environment; 85 percent of Nigerians depend on underground water supply and where is this water coming from? – Rainfall and what brings rains – trees.

If trees are not controlled, the air will be acidic and polluted. You will require a lot of treatment to process underground water and make it potable. The chemicals used in the treatment come with their own complications,” he said.

Lamenting the fast rate at which the Sahara desert is encroaching into the northern parts of the country, Chief Jibunoh stated that when land is encroached upon, the people migrate. “About 60 percent of migrants who were displaced by the Sahara end up in Lagos.

That is why the Lagos State government is collaborating with FADE in the fight against desertification,” he said. According to Jibunoh, the crisis in most parts of the North could be traced to the displacement of the people from their ancestral homes. “Most of the people displaced have nomadic lifestyle and suddenly you decide to urbanise nomads. There will be conflict because nomads cannot blend into normal urban life,” he said.

FADE, according to Jibunoh is currently acting as technical consultants to MTN’s Tree Planting campaign that is covering eight states. The states are Lagos, Kano, Imo, Cross River, Rivers, Oyo, Enugu, Delta and F.C.T Abuja.

“We have adopted amongst other numerous initiatives, a youth centered initiative for sensitizing the importance of planting trees by using secondary school children.

We introduced the tree planting competition in Kano State and at present we have 16 schools across several local government areas that have taken part in the programme.

Schools enter into a competition of planting and owning trees to ensure their survival. The students plant and nurture these trees until they graduate and the process continues as new students are enrolled in these schools.

It is part of FADE’s plan to extend this tree planting competition to other secondary schools in Kano and other frontline states endangered by desertification such asYobe, Jigawa, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi,” he said

Representatives of FADE in England and the United States, Messrs Akin Olukiran and Emmanuel Monye who were also at the briefing gave an update on the activities of the NGO in the two countries.

According to Olukiran, FADE which recently signed with some organisations in the UK, has adopted a thre-pronged approach in its fight against dssertification. They include advocacy, involvement of end-users and what he called joined -up approach.