NAN-AE-7
Land
By Vivian Emoni
Abuja, Dec. 13, 2017 (NAN) The Federal Government has reiterated its determination to reclaim four million hectares of degraded land by 2030 so as to improve agricultural production.
Mr Bala Gukut, Deputy Director, Drought and Desertification Amelioration Department, Federal Ministry of Environment, conveyed the government’s commitment in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
‘‘We are committed to restoring degraded forests to improve citizens’ livelihoods through food security, poverty alleviation, sustainable environment and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),’’ he said.
Gukut said that the government intended to achieve land degradation neutrality.
He said that land degradation neutrality was a state whereby the amount of healthy and productive land resources, necessary to support ecosystem services, remained stable or increased within specified temporal and spatial scales.
He said that the government’s efforts were part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100 Initiative) and Bonn Challenge, adding that AFR100 Initiative indicated a continuing drive across Africa to restore the productivity of lands.
Gukut said that the Bonn Challenge, on the other hand, was a global effort to restore 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded lands by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.
According to him, 26 African nations are now committed to restoring more than 84 million hectares of degraded land under the AFR100 Initiative.
“Also, the Bonn Challenge, a global effort, aims at restoring 150 million hectares of land by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030; spurring climate resilience, job growth and other benefits.
“Restoring land is critical to Africa in the face of climate change, as the latest research finds that land restoration holds the greatest potential for storing carbon in any land-based climate solution.
“Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) is a major priority for Nigeria and Nigeria is happy to be associated with AFR100 Initiative and Bonn Challenge,’’ he said.
Gukut also explained that FLR was an approach aimed at restoring ecological integrity and improving the people’s well-being through multifunctional landscapes.
He recalled that the Federal Government set up a working committee on March 9 to produce a blueprint for the achievement of land degradation neutrality in the country by 2030.
He also said that the United Nations Convention Combat Desertification (UNCCD) provided certain guidelines and methods for the production of the report.
Gukut said that the UNCCD also provided data for effective survey at various local levels to achieve land degradation neutrality in the country.
The deputy director said that the report was ready for endorsement by the Federal Government, adding that it was presented at a convention in China in September this year.
He said that the department was saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the promotion of practices and procedures for reclamation and restoration of the nation’s dry lands. (NAN)
VOE/MOL/OOK
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi and Dayo Komolafe