f'.10ND~" ,
DECEMBER 5. 20 11
• ESVARBON inducts 109 new estate valuers
Surveyors, others condemn corruption, plea bargaining
to environmental conservation
I1TA The Inte mational Institute for Tropical Agriculture has embarked on some projects aimed at conseruing th e environ ment and is involving school children in efforts to propagate its vision that food crop cultivation does not need ta destroy th e forest, AKiNPEW DADA writes, moving "ith m.~ changing times. the International Institute Tropical Agr-culture has incorporated environmental conservation mto it- agricultural research activities v.tith school chiklren at the COfil' )f efforts to create awarelleSli on the serious problems confrontlTl!1 the nation's environment It has dedicllted 311 out of its UXD-Oedare site in Moniya area of Ibadan to the pt1!!ervation of tropical ralnfornst. where tn?e5 o f (M!T 100 ~ in lI:Je h.!Ive been left undisturbed v.tith different species of animals ar d exotic birds rll"Kling a sanctuary.
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While painting a gloomy pictu re of the situation in Nigeria, IITA researcllm ~ the nation had lost OWl" 90 per cent of its forests to human development activities, farming, ~jng, deforestation and bush burning. among others. Lending credenoo to th$ Nigeria was a report by a risk anaJo,;sis and mapping company. Maplecroft. which on Thur.;day, named Nigeria AS lopping the list of countries of the world. v.tith the highest rate of deforestation, v.tilh Inc1onl'Sia and North Korea following. NigeIia, ao::ording \0 the company's index, lost OWl" I\AIO miDion hectares of forest annually between 2005 and 2010 driven by agricultural expansion, logging and infTastructuTe deveIoprnenl Extreme risk countries out of the 180 su~ are losing plant and animal species that help provide benefits such as dean air from forests. watetSheds for river.; and rnangJOYI5 that protect coastlines. servkes that help underpin economies.. ~OeforestatJon can also hamper efJOI1!i for 1:1 counlry to reduce their carbon diCX<ide emissions as forests play key role in mitigating: global climate change through mrlxm sequestration," Maplecroft analyst. Arianna Granziera. told Reuters. Getting the youth involved in mnservalion could help preserve AfrW.nn forests. sustain efforts on reforestation, and slow dov.rn the aIarmlng rate of deforestation and natural resoun::e degradation, the Director--General. IITA Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, said while
Another 350 hed~ lIIl!dedicaled to admin~ buildings and staff quartetS. '.vi ,lie the remaining 300 hectares <In! stridIy for ~lturaJ researrll lUrp0se5. The instirute U5ej the occa:5ion 01 the inauguration )1 the Nigerian "Also, apartjrom deforestation, Field Society '1 oung Explorers we also have the loss of biodiversity on Saturday 10 Jr veil its eHoro; a.t promoting environmental and soil degradation. All of these are COf\SeI'Wtion and contributing to contributing to the low yields that a.m!Sting the dafllJeXlU5 effects of climate change in Nijeria. fanners are now experiencing The l'\Iefll brcught together in the field " secondary school students from
Ibadan. who were ~ into various units in acx:oo:Iance with their interests. Some picked interest in learning about IreI!s and medicinal plants. birds and butterflies. and rncden fanning In a. departure from the curmnt pradke whereby fanners rut 00.\'11 forests to pallf. the \vay for the planting of food oops, [ITA has ~ed that the! e is no reason to deplete forest re5Ou~ in the name of culti..,.ilil1g food crops. Its lDIution i5 simple: "'!any high yielding food crop species have been developej that will multiply fan-ners' yield on a small piece of land. thereb,r increasing kxxl production and helping to ~~~~f~'~~~""~csix IJl5!itution5 wllhin
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explaining the reason for
involving school children its c:onservatlon eff0rt5.
Sanginga said, '"The
oonsequence of this situation isgloba!warming and climate change that are now affecting agricultural production. MAIso, apart from deforestation. we also have the loss of biodiwrsity and so~ degradation. All of these lIIl! contributing to the Iov.> yields that ii!lJlllel"S <In! now experiencing in the rlekl.~ The immediate past President, Nigerian FiekI Society and the country's rust: professor of forestry, David Qkall,.said the impact of deforestation and degradation on the environment and IiveUhoods was enotmOU5. His successor, Prof. Funso Adeniyi. emphasised the importance 01 forming the youth wing of the NFS, which he said ...-as the oldest environmental conservation body in the oountry. "The lime for action is now and the youth, who will soon be the ~am==ocOm=='~d~~c=",~_===",,~~m~""~~~~~==~·~~~200=·=.~
Scientists say t~t one of the principal drivers of environmental ch<Inge across West Africa has been the expansion of Iow-input smallholder agriculture Ih<tt dependson environmentally destnu:tiw practiceS such AS sIash-and-bum and land dearing. Other fadOTh driving deforestation include in&astructural and estZIte developmenl One area in which the institute is promoting environmental coru;ervation is raising tree seedling.:; that can be used to replace matured trees being cut by ~at a veryalarming rate. This IITA is doing V.lith support from the l2ven1is Foundation. Inaugurated in early 201 0, the scope of the IITA-Lewnlis Projed indude restoration of the existing IITA fomst. control 01 invasive species. multiplication and preservation of indigenous species. and ~ting of the forest to control erosion, pm/eel: watersheds. and increase biodivmity. To date. the project has propagated over 36,00 young trees from ~r 60 different species from seeds. cuttings, and wiIdIings
collected from the [ITA campus. Some 3.CXXl of these have been planted along a 2.6-kiIometre streich of fonner hmnIand ~ithin the campus. In the coming ye<us. the project plans \0 plant more trees on the 1.000 hectares of land v.tithin the £badan (3ITlPUS • ..."mid< is also home 10 one of the few suJViving secondaJy fQn!.'illi in 'Nest Ahka. The Coordinator, JITA-U!ventis Foundation project. Dr. John !W.c.ock.. noted that agricultural intensilK::.<liKm could help reduce the rate of deforestation in the country. He said. M lf farmers get improved seeds and inputs such as fertilisers. and lIIl! trained. they will not need to slash and bum or embark on pradices that will harm the forests. Ihis makes IITA's '-'IOrk on improving the produdivity of crops a cornerstone in curbing deforestation and soil degradation. The Chairman of the nev.tIy inaugurated NFSYE. Mr. Dipo Ajiroba. commended the f\'FS and the JITA.LNentis Projed for making the \.<>Uth the vanguard of forest protection i!lnd naMa! resource managemenl He promi5ed that the body IWOUid reauit youths who wen!: c::ommitted to the calJl;e of environmental protection and raise awareness on the negative effects of deforestation. The ConsuJ!2ln1 to IITA on medicinal plants, Dr. Deni Sown. SlIid despite advancement in medicine. about 9:) pel" cent of medicatiOfl5 in use in Nigeria were coming hom plants as most people preferred them 10 going 10 hospitals. This. lICCOfdjng to him. has led to the extinction 01 ma.ny 01 the plants ;as they lIIl! harvested \vilhout replacement, noting thi!lt the institute \Ni!IS ~ working with traditional healers on how to M
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