Environmentalist Encourages Tree Planting In Homes

A consultant on environmental issues, Dr. Emmanuel Eka, has said that planting trees in homes can prevent environmental hazards, besides their aesthetic value, and has therefore urged residents to imbibe the culture.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on the issue, Eka noted that tree planting was often seen as an exercise undertaken by government either to beautify the environment or to prevent erosion, adding that tree planting could also prevent their homes from being washed away by erosion or other environmental hazards.

According to him, dwarf fruit trees such as royal palm, golden palm and plants like Hibiscus petunia were good to plant within residential building, noting that they serve as wind breakers during rainstorm.

He said “if private home owners had known the importance of trees around their homes, some of the environmental problems we are facing today would have been curtailed. Through photosynthesis, the leaves combine the water and salts with carbon dioxide from the air to produce the nutrients which feed the trees.

“… In this process, trees create many chemicals, seeds and fruits which are of great benefit to man. They take much of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen via photosynthesis, and trees provide refreshing shade and help us breathe well also,” Eka said.

The environmentalist stressed that the presence of trees around homes help in reducing the effects of global warming affecting the world today.

He also warned against indiscriminate felling of trees and underscored the need to replace any tree cut down and observed that our environment is currently in a state of chaos due to deforestation.

According to him “losing more trees than necessary due to deforestation, creates ripple effect on the ecosystem. Unless thorough measures are put in place to replenish these destroyed natural resources, the future of our environment looks bleak”.