By Nneka Nwogwugwu
In preparation of the commemoration of the 2021 International Day of Forests, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) in collaboration with the Keystone Bank will plant 100 fruit trees to raise awareness on the important of all types of forest.
Thr NCF’s Head of Communications, Mr Oladapo Soneye made this known in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
The partnership would reverse the trend of deforestation in Nigeria and achieve the goals of preserving and restoring the environment for the benefit of the people, the statement said.
It said that the exercise would equally support NCF’s Green Recovery Initiative, a 30-year programme aimed at increasing Nigeria’s forest cover to at least 25 per cent over the next 30 years.
Soneye also noted that the occasion would witness employees of the bank planting seedlings of jack fruit, tenera oil palm, cashew and mango donated by NCF, in their homes.
“We depend on forests for our survival as trees provide the air we breathe.
“Forests also offer ecosystem services, enhance global food security and mitigate effect of climate change,” Dr Muhtari Aminu-Kano, Director General of NCF, said.
“As as a bank, we cannot overemphasise on the need to foster a sustainable environment to ensure business and life continuity through tree planting, carbon foot print reduction, recycling, amongst other sustainable practices.
“We will continue to collaborate and initiate exercise like this that aligns with our sustainable living culture as a bank,” Mr Olaniran Olayinka, Managing Director of Keystone was also quoted as saying.
The International Day of Forests is usually celebrated on March 21 annually and panelists from international organisations and civil society highlight threats due to global deforestation issues and lack of effective regulation.
