1HE GUARDIAN, Monda'6 June n, laD
FADE Africa to mark World Desertification Day
iu prog ramme Wo rld Environment Dayand Wor ld Desertification Day. The group's founder, Dr. Newton Ji b u noh warne d th at desenlflca t ion has worsent:d t he g loba l wa rm· ing tha i lnadvtne ndy leads to cli m ate rhange. "These chan ges have a ffected th e peopre of the desert, who are d ependen t on th e Sahar.l land for their li velihood. Wlthoult re6toslnk the a r· bon in th e atmosp h ere, Cli mate cha nge is Int ensified and the wllOle world is a lread y sluing o n th is tickIng time bomb. -Cu rrently we have t reeplantinG inillatl ves In pan· nership wit h Lagos a n d Kano St;u e gove rnm enu, as we ll as, the FCT Ad mmiSlra tl on. We just recently acted as technical co n s uh;lOts ('0 MTN's Tree Plan ting campaign thaI Is covering eigh t states namely l agos, Ka no, Imo, Cross Rive r, Rivers, Oyo, Enugu, Della and F.C.1 Abula. -We have adop ted amongst o th er n ume ro us initia tives, a youth centered initiatlve for se nslllsi ng th e impor-
ta nce of pla nting trees by using secondary school chil· dren. We intn)(fuced the tree p lan t ing co mpetitio n In Kano Stat e and al prese nt we ha ve 16 schools across sever· al local government areas that hilve taken part In rhe programme. Schools e nl er IOtO a co mpetition o f plant· Ing and ownln~ trees t o ensu re their survIVa l. "The students plant and nurtu re th ese trees until Ihey g raduate and t h e process continues as n ew stud e n u are e nroll ed In t hese schools. It is pan of FADE's plan to extend this nee planting competition to ot her second.lry sch ools in Kolno and othtr fron t line sta tes endangered by d ese.r· tmca lion s uch as yo~ , Jigawa, Kauina, Zamfaril, Sol«no and Kebbi. -At the end o f th e school year, the survival ..u es for the trees in each school will ilte det ermin ed by iI co m· minee (molde of o fn clais of [he Minlsuy o f Education) ilnd ranked ilccordingly and prizes given [ 0 chI.' winning sc hools'Prizes fo r the winning schools ;:He [0 be aWolrded during 01 cere m ony slat'ed for Jun e 18, 2011 In Ka no State to commemorate m e World Desertification DolY and will take p lace at the Emir o f Kano's Pollilce with prizes awarded by th e Emir him· self. The Emir, Alhaji (D r.) Ado Bayero, Is th e Chairma n of FAD E. This initiative Is In pannershlp wl m Kano State governmen t.
Farmers face water shortage as climate changes, says FAO
THE ENVJRONMENT 149
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NCF decries forest disappearance, urges early intervention The pursuit of meeting urbanisation and develop· ByTIniIAIID ment challenges has contributed in no small measIt..lIGERIA'Sfrontlineconserva- ure to the disappearance of forests in many parts of J '4oon group, Nlgerliln Conserviloon Fou nda lion the country, Speakers noted human activities pose (NCF) has L:tmenled the dtgr. dation of Nigeria's forest s, a serious threat to human survival, thUS, the need whkh has worsened the for urgent and decisive actions by every Nigerians,
destrucrlon of the rema.Jning primary ilnd matuf'f t:ropiCilI rorests with the loss of much biodiversity emalled • the loss or gene-banks for future food and plliUl1\iCeutial uses and also the desouction of the habl!.ats of some species of wildlife. President of NCF, Olief Philip As lodu, who spoke at lhe foseph Aye Baba.rola UnIversity In the far olway Osu n State, where a environment day symposium said, ....Ve all knOw lhe direct consequences of defor· esta t:lon - the [oss of soil through erosio n, sheel and gully erosion. the reduction 10 soil fertility and Ihe productilllr.yoflMmi It twbem estimat· ed that over 0 million IOns of soil are washed ilway Into the
lions ,'';:,o,'O;:;;',~ir';; Ass israfll '';;, L Na lu r.ll Rtsources Alexander Muellersaid in iI sta tement. Countr1 es should improve managemefll of Ihelr water l'HOurces a heold of the expect· ed changes, and fumers should adopt more efficient croppingpaners, the FAOsaid its Climate Change, Water and Food Security rtpon. Folmlers can reduce water use olnd optimize irrigation by turning to ea rli er or later plilflllns" while yields and prod urnvtry can be: improved by shi ft ing 10 soli moistu re co nservat Ion pranlces, Ihe
"pon said. Plilnt ing deep-rooted crops would allow filnners to be u er explolr availilble soil moisture. Mixed agro.fomny .system s illso hold promise beca use th~ sequester a rbon and offer wlOd protec, tion, improved soil conseM· lion and shilde, which red uces ground tempera·
ru resand evaporation. Small-scale fanners In devel· oping countries. who a lready produce yields filr below their potential, faceilll uphill strug· gle In adopting such st.ra l~ gies because oflimited access to capita.!, the repon said. --rbe rural poor, who ilre the most vulnerable, ~ like!y to be disproportion.l tely a ffect· ed,"Mueliersaid. FIIO said [00 lime is knolVn about the Impact that climate change will have on water for agric ulture at the regional and sub-regional levers and that "mapping vulnerabillty is a key task at nadonal and regionallevds. • "dim,lIe change Is already ma king life harder for poor filnners a nd, leli unche<ked, will devastate ou r futlln: food supp ly," Tim Go re, Imerna· donal dlmate adviser ilt cholr· hy OrganiZiltion Ox£iIm, said in iI sta tement bv Reuters.. Ml.'ilnwh ile, high and volati le _gricu ltura l commodi ty prices are likely 10 prevail for r.ECUNES in ma rine olnd the rest o f this ye.a.r and imo 1.Icoaslill ecosystems due to 2012 according to m e l.1(est hun\an activilies such as overa na lysis publis hed loday in flShingand pollution could be FAO's biannual Food OUllook. reversed If orgOlnisations, comThe repo n dtes a sharp rull- munities ilnd other SliIkchold. down o n Invem oriesandonly ers adopt a more Integrated modest ove ra ll production ilpproach to managingcoaSGII increases for the rTliIJorily of environments. crops as reasons for contl nu· Closer pannershlps be tween mg srrong prices. different marine users . such TIle next few months will be ilS fishing co mmunilles, the critical In detenninlng how tourism Indusuy and conser· the malor crops wi ll fare {his viltionlslS - can also he lp year, Ihe repon noted. ccasul communities become Although prospecu are bener prepa red for Mlural encouraging in some coun- disa.sters and the imp.lcts of tries such as the Russian global wanning, such oceiln Federa tion ilnd Ukraine, addHlanon ilrid changes In weather conditions, feolruring sea levels. too little and In some cases The recommendiltions too much raln,cou ld hamper come III a new publica tion maize and wheat yields In hom the Un ite<l Na tions Europe and NonhAJ'nt,rica. Environment Programme
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situ.llion aggr.wates jlI'M'm)' in theruralil~.
The renowned ronservatiooiSI said funher cha t olnimals thilt have dlsa ppe.. ~ from Nigeria In recent times lnclude Ihe chffi:ah, the pygmy hi ppopotamus, th e giraffe, the black rhl!ll:aros and tile giant eland. M eslimaiM 484 plant species in il2 familic:s.lncluding
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tion becauseofhabil.iltdes"rruc· don and deforestation. Meanwhile, at the 20UWorld Envt ronment Day (WED).
~g~~~lo~y th~uNj!~~~ (NCF),1n conjunction Nigerian
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tiooists noted with regret that the diSolp~rance oClOrests as OIl resu lt of human wtvttles posesaser1ousthRat lohuman ~urvl\'al , thus, the need for urgen t ilnd dedsive acdons by every Nigerians. The NCF, Chol irman, AmbassadorHamzat Arn.:nlu in his speech gid that forests [)~y ;1.1\ Im pottolnl role In the IllaTh et's ecosystem, being pan or the I.'o1nh wnich sel"VeS as home for manyspedes of plants ilnd olrUmals,sayingthat It is important to noll.' thai forests cover 11per ce nt of tota! gJoba l land area. -Al l ovtr the world, fomts
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billion peopk"s lIVen: hoodsdepend on r~ ~ olre solne of the I'NSOns why ~rvation of forestshoultl be: of utmosl priori ty," said 111e NCF dw.innan, lherriore, "''''"'' urged lhe partlclpalionof
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individual the th~ lien of governmenl and the priVolte sector to bKome inwI¥ed In iI mus lve and sustained tree planting campaign.. HewasoftheVII.'Wthat pL:tnt· ing trees "'WiU make up for the loss we holYe amed the pIa!\l!{ and ourselves through tht destruaion of forest artas O\'t:r lhecenlUries..Highlighdng his Found.1tion efforts on fores[S regener.ttion in Nigeria, H.unzat said tlklt the Nigerian Conservati on Foundation ha ve eng<lged in and spear.headed a number of Ir~ndng olctivities ;around the coun~ Including the papular regeneration and rehabili· lol lion of Urhonlgbe Forest Reserve in EdoSt.1te.
New partnerships needed to ensure future of marine spedes, says U.N. USing over 20 case studies and success stories, ranging from polar ~~slems in Antarctica to atolls in the Indian Ocean, the publicarton offers guidance to marine managers tOWards achieving
long-te"" sustainabili!\', from inirtal planning of how to deal with environmental degradation to on~site ;mplementation of action pl~ s, (UNEP). which outJines how pL1nners and policy-makers In IOColl r.ational and regio nal gove ~m en t.s can adopt what Is kn own as an ecosystem . bOIse<! rnaMge ment (EBM) olpproach to help ensure suslainable develop ment for marine and coastaJ envtrooments and the many people whodepe.nd on them. laWlChed on WorkI Ocuns [},)y l Oll, Taldng Steps Toward Marine and Coast,,1 E cos y s [ I.' m . Ba s I.' d
Mil nagemen t: . ~n I n~uctory GUide, explains In sllnp[e, accessIble language how shari.ng knowledge: and best practlces across different
sectorscanmakema~neman·
olgement moreeffectM. UsIng over 20 case studies and success stories, ranging from polil r ecosystems In M ta rnica to atol ls in the Indian Ocean, the publkanon offers guldilnce to m:trine rna.n;agers lOWilrili achieving long-temt sustalnabllil)!. from
In itial pla nningofhow tode.JI with envtronmenr./ degrada(Jon to olM"ite Im plementation of ilcdoo pllns. --rbe futlln: role or marine and cOdSfal ecosystems m human well·being depends mcreaslnqly on d eveloping the capaor.y o f countries to manage h uma n uses ilnd Impacts in order to ensure that ecosystem health and self· repairi ng capacil)' is n oc undenninedt said UN Und er· Secretary-Ceneral olmJ UNEJI Executive Director, Achlm Steiner. "Central loa uansformatiooa! response 10 decades of over· fishing, pollution olnd unplilnnl':d urba.n developmen[ will be moving from sec· loral marine;and roaml management to a joined approach lha t lI'IaITies seemingly compe~lng InterHts", added Stetner.