The federal government, in partnership with the Anambra state government, has planted over three thousand palm trees in the Nibo community, in the Awka South Local Government Area of the state, as a means of controlling the fast spread of an erosion site in the area.
The project, which was supervised by the Federal Ministry of Environment, has been handed over to the state Ministry of Environment through its commissioner, Engineer Felix Odimegwu, as part of a federal government project on phytocontrol and protection of erosion and marginal lands in the state.
Speaking during the event that took place on Monday, Engineer Odimegwu stated that the project came timely as the erosion crisis in Anambra State has escalated to an alarming rate, leaving one hundred and sixty of the one hundred and seventy-nine communities in Anambra State with one form of erosion or the other.
He appreciated the delegation for the economic trees, stating that the project will not only control erosion but will also ensure ecosystem stability, food and agriculture security, climate regulation, protection of natural habitat, sustainable land, and pollution control, among others.
The Commissioner, while assuring the federal government of their continuous partnership, revealed that the present administration places priority on its environment in order to reclaim the lost landscape of the state and appealed to industrialists, stakeholders, religious bodies, and organisations to key into the massive tree planting campaign for more results.
Performing the handover, a member of the Federal Government delegation, Mr Igbinosa Osakide, said that tree planting is highly beneficial to the existence of the environment and that as the seedlings of palm trees, ecological restoration of shorelines and erosion control will be established, as well as increasing the state’s forest cover, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.
Mr Osakide commended Governor Chukwuma Soludo for his visionary leadership, which started with the distribution of economic trees to all the twenty-one local government areas of the state, and assured that when carefully managed, the trees will help to reduce the land degradation issues facing the state.
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