Green Wall Project: FG Releases N340m

The Federal Government has
released N340 million for the procurement of economic tree seedlings towards the Great Green Wall project in Adamawa State, the state Commissioner for Environment, Mrs. Arziki Sawa said recently.
Our correspondent reports that the Great Green Wall Project was initiated by Nigeria in 2007 to check the advancement of the Sahara Desert.
The project will see 11 countries, including Nigeria, constructing a ‘wall of trees’ stretching 4,300 miles long and nine miles wide across the entire width of the continent from Djibouti in the east to Senegal in the west.
Other countries involved in the project are Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti
Sawa told our correspondent in Yola that the programme had taken off in six communities in three local government areas of the state Madagali, Micchika and Mubi North.
“The communities where the project has commenced are Waga and Gulak in Madagali; Moda and Bazza in Muchalla and Vintim and Michika in Mubi North local government areas.’’
The commissioner explained that a total of 73 hectares had been designated for the project across the three local government areas.
Sawa said that the sites were already being cleared and prepared for cultivation while 6,000 fruit tree seedlings had been purchased.
According to her, other ongoing activities towards the actualisation of the project include the establishment of woodlots and orchards as well as the constitution of monitoring and evaluation teams.
She said that the project would be undertaken in two phases with the second covering six other local government areas and to be completed by year 2015.
Sawa said that the ministry had commenced the training of forest guards to protect the green wall project from the activities of vandals.
“The ministry is working in collaboration with other stakeholders to sustain environmental friendly measures such as discouraging the felling of trees, among others.”
She solicited the support of stakeholders in educating the public of the dangers inherent in arbitrary felling of trees.
Sawa also stressed the need to sensitise the younger generation on the importance of protecting the environment from devastation.

The ruins of a house destroyed by flood in Jos recently