The Foundation for Sustainable Development Options (FOSDO) is currently partnering the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to promote tree planting in Imo State and entire Niger Delta region.
The foundation, on Monday held a stakeholders interactive forum, as part of a five day sensitization programme, with the theme: Reawaking the Practice of Tree Planting in the Region, which will include sensitization campaigns to Primary and Secondary schools in the state, as well as a one day sensitization workshop.
Fielding questions from newsmen, at the end of the stakeholders forum, the Chief Consultant of the foundation, Dr Anthony Chovwen said the sensitization campaigns cut across the entire Niger Delta states, having already been carried out in Rivers and Bayelsa States.
“It is a weeklong activity, with the aim of reawakening the practice of tree planting.
“Today we converged environmental stakeholders from the Academia, Ministries, NGOs, CSOs, and the general public, people who are enthusiastic about the environment.
“We interviewed them about environmental issues affecting the state.
“We will outline those key environmental issues.
“We asked them what has brought the state to where it is now, and then got their suggestions on what could be done to deal with the issues.
“Thereafter, we came up with a communique on what the participants have said, documented it, so in our next intervention, which will be bigger, we will look into that file, to see all that the stakeholders said and by working on that, we can come up with a detailed and far reaching intervention”.
Chovwen disclosed that after promoting environmental education at primary schools on Tuesday, Secondary Schools on Wednesday, the foundation will host a day long sensitization workshop, “during which we will look at all the issues concerning the challenges of climate change and the importance of tree planting.”
He listed the importance of tree planting to include; releasing oxygen for human consumption, absorbing carbon dioxide from humans, bringing about cool environment, help to break noise, help to combat erosion menace, serve as number one tool in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change, among others.
Recall that Niger Delta areas of Nigeria have suffered a lot of ecological damages orchestrated by Oil exploration and exploitation hence the need to plant trees in the areas.
By Jude Onyenedogha
