Dr Adeshola Adepoju, Executive Director of Forestry Research Institute (FRIN), while explaining how the focus of the Institute for 2018 will make for societal, economic and environmental impact, asserts that investing in the environment is more profitable than many other businesses.
Vision for 2018
FOR 2018, FRIN will be churning out a higher number of seedlings compared to last year because this year, there will be associations under the Green Bond arrangement and about five agencies in the (Environment) ministry are involved, with FRIN being strategic among them.
Planting season
We have already contacted all the stakeholders in Nigeria so that everyone will prepare comprehensively for the 2018 farming season; so that we will not start planning in March or April. We have informed stakeholders that afforestation activities do not start with planting. It commences with all other activities before planting. Planting is the final stage. So, if we do not start on time, we will not have the maximum success that we want to achieve.
Biosphere reserves
We are also working on five biosphere reserve sites in Nigeria which we want to ensure are listed on the UNESCO network.
Agroforestry
Beyond that, FRIN is also embarking on further research on how to shorten the gestation period of some indigenous species: how do we achieve maximum 10 years for them to attain timber size? For fruiting economic species, how do we shorten them from seven to five, or from five to three years? This is so that we can help the farmer in the agroforestry front. Also, it will encourage and promote the subsistence economy, the aggregate of which will be a bigger impact on the nation: We have larger pockets of small scale farmers than large scale farmers. So, if they (small scale farmers) also adopt agroforestry, that will mean having so many small-scale businesses being boosted and that will, on the long run, affect the lower levels of society, boost the economy and take a lot of people out of the poverty level.
Impact on health sector
We are working on our research activities to support the health sector. We have had breakthroughs regarding so many medicinal plants. Some have been packaged, but we are just waiting to get them certified by NAFDAC so that we can begin to interface with the business community.
Training and colleges
We are strengthening our training activities to be able to take our research findings to the larger society. We want to also strengthen our colleges to meet the NBTE accreditation, so that the technical manpower which is the middle level structure of the society, in terms of knowing how to do the business of forestry, will also be strengthened and come out with what is expected of them.
Why investing in environment makes sense
Forestry and forestry-related businesses are more lucrative and profit-oriented than other businesses people are after. I can tell you that if you do it well, you cannot compare the turnover or profit with when you fix your money.
Also, you are going to achieve three things: you will be making profit from the business, you will be supporting the country socially, and also contributing to environmental amelioration. If you do business in environment or forestry related business, the profit you will be making will be at least five times any other business you can think of. And you have monopoly of the business because, you may have entered a year or two ahead, when you are getting the returns, nobody can plant that same day and get the returns. So, you have monopoly of the market.
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