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Battle to preserve biodiversity By Tina A. Hassan
tion of forest reserVes are injuri-
0-YEAR-OLD Alhaji Kire is a cattle herder who is willing to fight off anyone who attempts to cut down the few trees surrounding his mud house because he believes the lack of trees and vegetation cover is largely responsible for his many
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ous to the ecosystem because they lead to and aggravate cUmate challenges, this in turn leads to disease outbreaks like cancer. It also increases the water level causing floods, loss of farmlands and eventually food shortages.
sity is being protected. Another . ing carbon emissions in local indicator is reduction in carbon communities, especially the way dioxide (C02) emissions, pro- they use their forests by granting tection of terrestrial and marine carbon credit to countries that areas and reduced consumption of are able to meet the indicators ozone depleting substances, towards achieving goal seven of The RedUCing Emissions from theMDGs. Deforestation and forest DegThe Federal Government of
ting up its first REDO project in one of the forest reserves in Cross River State. The UN teanl that inspected the projed:t in the state has already assured the Minister of Environment, John Odey and the Governor of Cross River State, Liyel
cadation (REDO) in developing
!moke that Nigeria would soon be considered among the REDO compliant countries and those benefiting from the carbon credit.
woes and constant migration.
......
He migrated from Yobe and Saulawa in Katsina State because of desert encroachment to settle in Danbasa Maiyare in Ikara Local Government of Kaduna State where he now fights anybody who tries to cut down the trees surrounding his house. Now that he has found a home surrounded by a few trees, he is not ready to allow his neighbours to cut them for firewood because only his house is now surrounded by trees after the others were felled . Speaking to a group of journalists on a climate change tour in his small village, Kire said he thinks the trees are necessary to the pre-
vention of desert encroachment and the fresh air which was absent in his former dwelling before he was forced to migrate in order to
find pasture and food for his cattle and fanlily It is no longer a su rprise to notice the complete absence or liltie presence of trees and shrubs in most communities across Nigeria.
especially in states located in far northern parts of the country. This situation is largely caused " by various human activities in
form of bush burning, tree felling for domestic and industrial purposes, bush clearing for farming or building among others, which lead to the gradual loss ofbiodiversity with the resultant consequence of increased impact of climate change and treat to life in general. Nigeria's forest
reserve
is
G
Oal seven of" the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) talks
countries is a programme that is
about environmental sustain-
countries to work towards reduc:'
quickly disappearing. The consequences are dire on the environment and the entire ecosystem, prompt action is needed to stop the trend and revert to the status quo if the nation's biodiversity (animal, plant balanced chemicals in the air) is to be restored to normal or to levels that can support life. The Food Agriculture Organization (FAa) estimates that Nigeria has a total forest reserve of 10 miUion hectares representing close to 10 percent of the total land ", area of the country butthe size has
ability with a focus on the reversal of the loss of environmental resources (forest, plant and animal species, and increases in carbon content) and reduction in biodiversity loss with a timeline that targeted last year for significant reduction rate. The United Nations body, (MDGs), is also urg-
continued to shrink ever since.
ing governments to
Conserving forest reserves integrate the prinwould go a long way in protect- . ciples. ofsustainable ing the ecosystem and the envi- <leyelol'ment , into ronment,_ensuring a balance in their policies and the atmospheric Content such "as programmes. " . reduced carbon emissions, oxy- -.
gen availabilitY and a balance in the quantity of other gases that could otherwise pose a ~.reat to living things if the balancei .. tUted. Environmental degradation in form of bush burning, indiscriminate waste disposal and destruc-
路The
indica- '
tors for progress achieved by countries include the proportion of land area that is by forests, an indicator that biodiver-
aimed at encouraging developing
Nigeria has decided to take steps in this direction to enable the country benefit from the carbon credit availed by the UN set-