FG seeks stakeholders’ collaboration on climate change

As nature is increasingly becoming unpredictable, with the concomitant socio-economic implications on the environment, the Federal Government is seeking support of all and sundry to contribute to the mitigation efforts that may be prescribed.

The Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, recently, while reacting to the nagging effects of climate change, urged that Nigerians should be constantly reminded and advised on the need to be a ‘good neighbour’ in the ecosystem.

According to Mohammed, ecosystems are essentially for survival, the basis for sustainable development and creating economic opportunity.

“Because of their importance, man needs to pay adequate attention to the ecosystems, because not doing so will definitely have serious implication.

“These may include loss of livelihoods, insecurity, exacerbated poverty, negative impact on health and changed the landscapes from forests to deserts, mangroves to wasteland, and green cities to choked communities”.

The minister highlighted the interdependence of the various members of the ecosystem using the vulture, whose importance to nature, she said, could not be over-emphasised, especially with its scavenging function on the environment.

She, however, lamented that notwithstanding this importance, five out of the few species of this creature in Nigeria are close to extinction, adding that a decline of between 70 and 90 per cent of some species over a period of three generations illustrates the biodiversity threat facing the country.

“The implication of this is that ‘Nature’s clean-up crew’ may withhold its services very soon and carcasses of dead animals will remain unmoved. This will lead to a loss of capacity to remove a thousand tonnes of carcasses per year worth around $11,600 per year, per vulture,” the minister said.

“Without vultures to efficiently remove large amounts of decayed meat, both air and ground water would show increased contamination,” she added, saying, “Loss of primary forests poses threat to the vulture population. 80 per cent of original forest has been converted to agricultural land in West Africa, with an estimated loss of 10 hectares of forest in the 20th century.”

Similarly, President, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Chief Phillip Asiodu, noted that from 1960 till date, Nigeria has lost about 30 per cent of its forest cover due to deforestation and habitat degrading activities like forest clearance for farmlands, logging and unsuitable land use practices, pointing out that this has resulted in the loss of biodiversity and reduction in the functioning of the ecosystem.

“At independence, Nigeria still had about 35 per cent forest cover, but today, the figure is less than five per cent,” he said, advising that Nigerians must all devote more energy on advocacy and engage stakeholders on the need to protect the remaining forest cover while supporting massive tree planting initiatives throughout the country.

The Foundation’s Director-General, Adeniyi Karunwi, hinted that NCF was stepping up advocacy towards the plight of the birds.

“We have developed a National Vulture Advocacy Plan which we are hoping the Federal Ministry of Environment will partner with us to launch and will drive all plans into action,” he said at a lecture series in Lagos, recently.

“This well-articulated Advocacy Plan cuts across different aspects that will help bring the plight of Nigerian vultures into the public space for discussion to further promote their conservation,” he added.

Environmentalists have noted that man is not only dominant, but also destructive in the environment in which he finds himself and have therefore advised that the ecosystem, which he is part of, should not be neglected.

As a community of living organisms in conjunction with the non-living components of their environment   like air, water and mineral soil interacting as a system, the ecosystem is very essential to human life and provides man with countless and invaluable services and opportunities.

These services are such that environmentalists believe man’s survival depends on sustainable ecosystem which provides him with food, water and clean air.