As the World Bank-sponsored Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project(NEWMAP) initiative kicked off in Ekiti State, the state government has pledged empowerment for 100 farmers for the planting of 5,000 hectares of trees in the state.
The government said the NEWMAP project would employ another 450 farmers for tree planting policy for the regeneration of the highly depleted nine forest reserves owned by the state and bring them back to their former statuses.
The governor of Ekiti State, Governor Kayode Fayemi spoke in Ikere Ekiti, on Wednesday, during a sensitisation and advocacy programme on forest protection and regeneration programme held in Ikere Local Government.
Fayemi, represented by the Commissioner for Environment, Mrs Iyabo Fakunle-Okieimen added that the scheme would support the government’s quest to achieve environmental and economic security for the state.
“In the area of community participation, a total of 450 farmers will be identified to participate in the conventional panting within the nine forest reserves while a total of 100 interested farmers will be mobilised to plant 50 of woodlots and orchard respectively.”
Reeling out the benefits of NEWMAP, Fayemi said, “The primary objective of to carry the stakeholders and identify factors that can enhance rehabilitation of areas prone to the low, medium and high menace of land degradation caused by bush burning, indiscriminate tree felling and flooding.”
The governor noted that the programme is co-sponsored by the state government and the World Bank with the mission of encouraging plantation agriculture, fight poverty and increase the economic viability of tree planting in Ekiti.
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The NEWMAP Coordinator in Ekiti, Mr Seyi Adegbola said the NEWMAP policy will address challenges of gully erosion, environmental disaster, economic wastages and climate change in Ekiti.
“If you check all the nine forest reserves we have, nothing is there again. They are depleted and we are losing millions of naira daily. But with NEWMAP, 450 farmers will be employed to replant the lost trees and in the medium and long term, we will have cause to laugh”.
In his presentation entitled: “Best Way to Protect and Regenerate Forest reserves in Ekiti State”, an environmental expert, Mr Bunmi Olatiilu, revealed that forest potential can turn around the fortunes of the state through lumbering business and recreational purposes if harnessed.
The environmentalist stated that good aforestation policy can also provide employment for farmers, hunters, researchers, educational institutions, saw millers and promote other business interest.
“For the government to ensure forest sustainability to maintain our climatic and ecosystem, stakeholders encourage tree planting and train expert in plantation agriculture for the survival of our environment,” he said.
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