Tinubu Calls For Action To Strike Balance Between Security, Sustainable Forest Management

President Bola Tinubu has condemned Africa’s growing deforestation, which is primarily caused by subsistence and commercial agriculture, stating that ambitious regional action is urgently required to strike a balance between food security and sustainable forest management.

Speaking at the ongoing 1st International Conference on Afforestation and Reforestation held in Brazzaville, Congo, President Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal
said: “It warms my heart that the first-ever International Conference on Afforestation and Reforestation is being held right here in Africa, where more than 15% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions occur. This historic gathering is a significant step forward in our collective efforts to address one of today’s most pressing environmental challenges. Forests cover nearly 31% of the world’s land area and are essential for maintaining ecological balance, preserving biodiversity, and providing livelihoods for millions of people. However, deforestation and forest degradation continue to endanger these critical ecosystems, with serious consequences for our planet and future generations.”

Tinubu, citing a Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) report that nearly 4 million hectares of African forests are being cut down each year, which is nearly twice the rate of global deforestation, noted that factors contributing to forest loss in the region include increasing population, indiscriminate land expansion for agriculture, rapid urbanisation, social needs, and illegal logging.

He went on to say that “About 70% of deforestation in Africa is caused by subsistence and commercial agriculture, so urgent and ambitious regional action is required to strike a balance between food security and sustainable forest management.”

He admitted that choosing Congo for this conference was appropriate given Africa’s contribution to global deforestation. He stated, “We are all here to improve the situation by bringing together leading experts, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners from all over the world to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and foster collaborations.” Our goal is to develop and implement innovative and scientific afforestation and reforestation strategies that will restore degraded lands, improve biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of climate change.”

He stated that: “Regional and global cooperation like this is imperative and will foster the development of appropriate regional transformative policy and legal framework capable of mitigating the effects of climate change. Through initiatives like this, we will achieve progressive adoption and implementation of climate smart agriculture practices that will help strike a balance between food security and sustainable forest management.”

He stated that Nigeria has come a long way and is making progress towards reversing forest cover loss through sustainable forest management and massive afforestation. As part of our determination to scale up forest financing and increase forest cover.”

He added that the government recently approved 8.5 million US dollars for the Presidential Initiative on Afforestation. These funds are primarily intended for the reforestation and restoration of degraded forests and other critical landscapes throughout the country. This is in addition to other similar programmes being implemented, such as the Great Green Wall Pan African Programme and Agro-Climatic Resilience Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL), which have resulted in the restoration of over 1.5 million hectares of degraded forests, the establishment of over 1,428.9km Shelter belts covering 4,286 hectares, the empowerment of over 200,000 forest community members, and the creation of more than 3 million jobs for our youths.”

He stated that relevant policies and legislative frameworks are being strengthened in response to the current and emerging circumstances. We recently placed an interim suspension on the export of wood-based products to allow for an adequate evaluation of the process and, ultimately, the establishment of a sustainable forest management trade complaint system without jeopardising progress in the implementation of the UNSPF, NDC, and other global agreements.”

The President stated, “Nigeria remains committed to global, regional, and sub-regional consensus to promote and accelerate progress in sustainable forest management. This includes the COP27 Africa and Global Decade of Afforestation and Reforestation, the COP26 Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, and other key COP28 outcomes.

He stated, “As parties to the globally agreed-upon goals and targets on forests, biodiversity, climate change, and SDGs, we have no choice but to do everything in our power to accelerate transformative delivery of these goals within the set timelines. Governments should not be solely responsible for the restoration of our forests. It must be a collaborative effort between the government, non-governmental organisations, corporate/private organisations, civil societies, and communities. We should all work towards the common goal of increasing global forest cover.”