June 04, (THEWILL) – As the world celebrates World Environment Day (WED) on June 5, 2022, with the theme, Only One Earth, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) plans to commemorate the event in a unique way.
The WED 2022 theme, Only One Earth, was first adopted as a slogan for the 1972 Stockholm Conference. The unique thing about the theme, 50 years on, is that this truth still holds. We have no other place and this planet is our only home. There is a need for the human race to collectively act against further anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases to and from the atmosphere.
Experts have identified significant progress made and what is ahead in decades to come, with the slogan Only One Earth.
The NCF vision is in alignment with this year’s WED theme and because the foundation’s vision is a country where people live in harmony with nature.
This was the observation made by the NCF Coordinator of the Green Recovery Nigeria Project, Folake Salawu, who pointed out that the theme of this year’s WED boils down to promoting living sustainably in harmony with nature, while NCF is in alignment with nature, which is promoting Nigeria where people are living in harmony with nature.
Perhaps, for us at ‘the Green Recovery Nigeria Project desk, the green recovery Nigerian project is a flagship programme of the NCF that targets contribution to increasing the forest cover in Nigeria from the present less than 10 percent rate to 25 percent by 2027.
And what are we saying?
We are trying to promote afforestation and reforestation of degraded areas and plant more trees where trees are not in existence. In other words, the importance of the forest ecosystem to the survival of the human race cannot be under estimated, but the forest ecosystem provides a lot of services to the human race. We have a lot of insects. They live in the forest ecosystem, help in pollination service and pollination helps the growth of plants and other food crops.
There is erosion control, water shades service, which ensures that river beds and rivers don’t dry up, so as to provide clean water for the human race and animals. The aesthetics of it cannot be underestimated. Immediately you enter a place where there are trees, you can feel the change and the coolness, in comparison to exposed land areas.
Salawu agreed that the anthropogenic activities contributed to greenhouse gases emission through industrialisation, through the burning of energy consumption both for industrial and households use. ‘also development especially in urban areas such as failing of trees to make way for development of infrastructure contribute to greenhouse gases emission.
The good news is that the human race can still develop while still protecting the environment. “it is all about setting out a percentage, if you’re a building a house for every number of trees that you knocked down, make sure you set aside another place where you can plant the number of trees you have cut down. If you cut 10 trees in land A, make sure you plant 10 trees in land B where you don’t need a house. Make sure you compensate for cutting down all of those trees in another place.
In other words, the trees serve as what we call ‘carbon sink’. They use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and we need the plant to help us regulate the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
On how this could be sustainable: “We always say plant trees and then people would ask why you are planting trees. When you’re unable to plant trees plant shrubs and plant flowers. Plant anything green that can absorb the carbon dioxide that we generate from our human activities as human beings.
“So it is all about creating balance and ensuring that we replace what we take from the environment back in equal fold as much as possible. In terms of sustainability, simply boils down don’t take more than what you need from the environment and when you’re taking, replace what you’re taking from the environment, so that you still leave a good environment for unborn generations to come. By the time we degrade the whole environment, what are we going to leave for future generations?
“With the recent increase in climate-induced disasters around us, there is persistent flooding in coastal areas like Lagos. This year, we have witnessed drought in Kenya and Somalia, as well as in other places where a lot of people and animals perished. We cannot continue to keep emitting greenhouse gases at the rate at which we are doing it now without making compensation and ensuring that things are properly done or we stand the risk of running the human race into extinction because the higher the greenhouse gases emission, the higher the temperature and the more climate-induced disasters as a result of global warming and climate change.
Who are we? Salawu noted, “For the past 40 years we have been at the forefront of promoting biodiversity conservation. Lekki Conservation is one of our flagship programmes and climate change is one of our pillars. We have four strategic pillars, which include biodiversity, climate change, green recovery Nigeria project which falls under forestry and green spaces and education. We have a couple of programmes targeted at conserving the environment.
The Director Business Development and Communication of NCF, Uchenna Achunine, says, “The WED is an important event for us in NCF. We join the whole world to commemorate that day that reminds us as humanity that we are part of planet earth and the earth is one for now and we don’t have another earth. And so, all us have important roles to play in conserving this earth.
“As the foremost environmental Non Governmental Organisation that is dedicated to nature conservation, we are marking WED 2022 with the theme, ‘only one earth’, but we will be celebrating on June 9, being Thursday, 2022. On that day we will open our gates and invite people to join us, the school children to join us, nature advocates, nature enthusiasts and all those who are interested in supporting the work we do and other organisations do in conserving the earth.
“We would have children come. We would have some talk to educate them. We have set up conservation clubs in schools. The essence is to catch them young and teach them they have a role to play in conserving the environment.
“This year’s event marks 40 years of NCF. We have adopted a year-long programme of activities to celebrate 40 years of NCF in ‘only one earth’. Some people have described the environment as a very important support system. Unfortunately instead of conserving and improving the earth, a lot of activities are damaging and harming the earth. A lot of activities have been lined up to commemorate NCF’s 40 years anniversary.
“The NCF has been responsible and it has also influenced a number of policies existing today when it comes to the environment. The National Parks and Ministry of Environment are the products of the foundation’s efforts.
“The issue of teaching the children is both a policy thing and also a natural thing that flows and we are not getting any resistance from schools and from the government.”
About the Author
Janefrances Ebere Chibuzor is a Tourism Writer at THEWILL
