Some stakeholders in the environment sector have urged state governments in the North-East region to ban the felling of trees, enhance reforestation and check desert encroachment.

The stakeholders who spoke in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa and Yobe, said the measure was imperative to check the spate of forest depletion and protect about 10 million trees planted by the states in the last three years.

The states are among the 11 desert-prone areas alongside Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that tree planting is a critical component of the National Afforestation Programme and the National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), designed to control desertification, and erosion and build a sustainable green environment.

To further protect forest resources, the state governments also adopted proactive measures to check the indiscriminate felling of trees and bush burning.

These measures were being evolved to encourage the development of alternative sources of energy to reduce dependence on fuel wood.

Mr Ali Abba, Head of Forestry Technology Department, College of Agriculture, Gujba in Yobe, said effective reforestation would mitigate desert encroachment ravaging the region.

Reforestation is the process of replanting a damaged forest area for the benefit of mankind and the environment.

According to him, reforestation fights desertification by increasing soil fertility and the level of its organic matter.

“Reforestation also slows down global warming by reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” he said.

He said reforestation was critical to addressing climate change, adding that areas with lots of trees experienced more rainfall than those without vegetation cover.

The environmentalist urged the Yobe government to maintain the three million tree seedlings planted across the state under its Afforestation Programme.

He, however, advised the government to scale up tree planting in areas such as Yusufari, Yunusari, Geidam, Machina, Dapchi, Tarmuwa, Nguru and Damaturu.

The aforementioned areas, he said have been experiencing low rainfall in the last 30 years due to depletion of vegetation.

A Gombe-based environmentalist, Mr Ismail Bima, also urged residents of the state to support the government’s afforestation programme.

Bima, who is the Chief Executive Officer, of Jewel Environmental Initiative (JEI), an NGO, said the call became imperative in view of the large-scale destruction of forest resources in the state.

He said community engagement was necessary to ensure the success of the reforestation programme at the grassroots and stressed the need for awareness creation activities to mobilise support for the programme.

Bima said the government had embarked on massive tree planting across the state under its “Gombe Goes Green (3G) project aimed at planting one million trees annually.
“The best that could be done is to nurture the trees planted in our communities.

“It is the role of the people to own up all projects in their communities because the benefit of having those trees will be enjoyed first by the community where the trees are,” he said.

He advised the people to seize the opportunity of the wet season to plant more trees in their communities to reclaim the lost forests.

Also, Dr Salami Kaseem, Department of Forestry and Wildlife, Federal University Dutse (FUD), Jigawa, said massive tree planting would speed up reforestation across the country.

He said that cutting down trees without immediate replacement damaged the habitat, loss of biodiversity and aridity.

He said that deforestation for land clearing, farming, charcoal making and logging without tree replacement was counterproductive and harmful to the environment.

“Cutting down of trees without replacing them affects humans, the ecosystem and the climate because trees are the main source of oxygen.

“Trees also have many advantages such as providing shade from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays and maintaining the ecosystem.

Kaseem further said that deforestation caused a loss of habitat for species, animals and plants inhabiting the forests, as such they could not survive.

The academic don said the logging ban was the most effective way to enhance reforestation and management of forest resources.

In the same vein, Tukur Dalorima, an environmentalist in Borno, urged the state government to enact forestry laws to check the indiscriminate felling of trees.

He said that Nigeria lost a large area of forest to logging, desert encroachment and other human-induced activities.

The trend, he said, contributed to global warming, desertification, erosion and harmful effects on the ecosystem.

“We witnessed desert encroachment in the north where about 350,000 hectares of land are being lost annually, and Lake Chad is shrinking.

“Governments at all levels and other stakeholders in the environment sector must encourage tree planting to guard against deforestation and mitigate effects of climate change,” he said.

He urged the Borno government to develop an erosion control and environmental sustainability manual to guide community-based erosion control programmes.

In a bid to accelerate reforestation, the Bauchi State House of Assembly had passed the Tree Planting, Conservation Bill 2020.

The Bill seeks to safeguard and preserve the vast forest resources, enhance its management to meet the needs of the society and preserve the ecosystem in the state.

Similarly; Mr Ibrahim Kabir, Director-General, Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA), said it had planted 550,000 assorted trees covering about 53,000 hectares across the state.

He said the Agency recently distributed 2,000 tree seedlings to households for planting in the Bauchi metropolis, to control desertification and promote the concept of green area.

According to him, the state government will access the N30 billion grant from World Bank, adding the state was expected to contribute an N1billion as a counterpart fund, to address myriads of environmental challenges.

Moreso; Alhaji Hamisu Shira, Commissioner for Housing and Environment, said the ministry had planted 970 assorted tree species in strategic locations across the 20 LGAs, to conserve the environment.

He said the ministry equally planted additional 9,500 trees in Giade, Shira, Zaki and Tafawa Balewa LGAs, to enhance reforestation and environmental sustainability in the state.

For her part, Mrs Sarah Gundiri, Director of Forestry, Adamawa Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources called for more sensitisation activities to create awareness of reforestation at the grassroots.

She stressed the need for the engagement of community and religious leaders in educating the people to embrace tree planting for a better life.

She said the importance of reforestation to biodiversity and the ecosystem could not be over-emphasised.

“Government can not do it alone, hence the need for everyone to complement its effort towards achieving sustainable reforestation, clean and green environment.

“Deforestation affects our life, plants produce the oxygen we breathe and without reforestation everywhere will be polluted.

“Reforestation does not mean it is only in the bush, even in your house, streets, business premises, schools, offices and public places,” she said.

While commending the contributions of individuals, development organisations and other stakeholders for their support to tree planting programmes, Gundiri urged them to scale up sensitisation activities to check deforestation.