By Opeyemi Muhammed
The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), held its 35th Annual General Meeting in Lagos, reiterating its commitment to environmental conservation and sustainability.
TheNewsZenith reports that the President of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of NCF, Izoma Philip Asiodu, chaired the occasion.
Asiodu said the presence of the NCF at the subnational level would promote advocacy for nature conservation. It will also strengthen sustainability at the grassroots.
He, therefore, urged the foundation’s National Executive Council (NEC) to work towards establishing offices in all 36 federation states.
Asiodu, a Nigerian Diplomat, Bureaucrat and former Minister of Petroleum, Nigeria said that resolving environmental problems requires robust action.
It also required response at the local and global levels because conservation issues transcend borders.
The BOT President said that the foundation planted 285,000 trees through its Green Recovery Nigeria (GRN) programme last year.
According to him, the GRN programme is a flagship project of NCF.
It seeks to recover and restore Nigeria’s forest cover from the current seven per cent to 25% by 2047.
Also speaking, the Chairman, NEC of NCF, Justice Bukunola Adebiyi, said that the foundation’s efforts at protecting endangered species showed promising results in 2023.
Adebiyi said beyond its achievements in 2023, NCF continued to face threats from illegal logging, poaching and climate change.
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According to her, the foundation will, in the years, scale up conservation efforts and sustainable development.
It will also strengthen advocacy efforts to influence environmental policies and a stronger legal framework for conservation.
The Director-General of NCF, Dr Joseph Onoja, gave a report of the foundation’s activities for the past year.
Onoja said 2023 marked the foundation’s third year of the implementation of its Strategic Action Plan (SAP 2021-2025).
“Guided by the SAP, we focused more and became innovative.
“We implemented impactful programmes and projects on environmental sustainability and nature conservation.
“We have made significant progress in our mission to preserve Nigeria’s biodiversity and promote sustainable development,” TheNewsZenith quotes Onoja as saying.
The DG listed other areas of intervention in the year under review.
These include wetland conservation, wildlife conservation, research and monitoring, community-based conservation and education.
“As we celebrate 44 years of conservation excellence, let us renew our commitment to protecting our natural heritage for future generations,” Onoja pleaded.
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