In order to control desertification and curtail the effect of climate change, the Borno government has begun planting 1.2 million tree seedlings.
Gov. Babagana Zulum disclosed this at the inauguration of the 2023 tree planting campaign, on Monday in Maiduguri, where he warned against indiscriminate felling of trees.
The state government, he explained, was targeting to plant 10 million trees in 2024.
In his words: “If (tree felling) is left unchecked, we may one day find that the whole of Borno State is a desert.
“We are all aware that we have lost more than 80 per cent of the vegetation in the state to insurgency. All the trees around our communities have been cleared for security reasons and some were cleared for firewood.
“The issue of climate change and desert encroachment has been a great concern to the entire people of the northern states, particularly Borno.”
He added that the state government will plant five million trees in 2024, noting that each of the 27 local government areas would also plant 200,000 tree seedlings.
On his part, the commissioner for environment, Mohammed Kois revealed that over one million tree seedlings had been set aside for distribution to the 27 LGAs and other stakeholders for the exercise across the state.
Some estates and institutions, he elaborated, had been identified for planting of 27,000 tree seedlings, adding that the government adopted proactive measures to mitigate flood and other environmental challenges in the state.