The Federal Government has urged charcoal merchants and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector of the economy to adopt sustainable practices and support efforts to reverse deforestation and restore Nigeria’s degraded forests.
Speaking at the flag-off of the 2026 Operation One Million Trees programme, organised by the Association for Forest Conservation and Green Industrial Charcoal Merchants at the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Ibadan, on Wednesday, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abass Lawal, said deforestation posed a serious threat not only to the environment but also to the economic growth of the country.
The Minister, who spoke through Dr Osakwe Igbinosa, stressed the need for precautionary steps, including tree planting, to avert impending danger.
He said tree planting remained critical to combating climate change, restoring biodiversity, checking desertification and strengthening the resilience of Nigeria’s ecosystems.
Lawal said the Federal Ministry of Environment was implementing various afforestation and forest restoration initiatives, including the 2026 National Afforestation Programme, Sovereign Green Bond Afforestation Programme and the National Greening of Cities and Urban Areas initiative.
He said the Operation One Million Trees programme complemented the government’s environmental agenda, urging participants to comply with existing forestry laws and regulations.
He stressed that the success of afforestation should be measured not by the number of seedlings planted but by their survival and growth into healthy trees.
‘Tree planting is not just about putting seedlings into the soil. The real measure of success is their survival and growth into healthy forests,’ he said.
Chairman of the association, Adeshola Adebowale Idowu, urged charcoal merchants and Nigerians generally to replace trees removed from the environment, advocating the planting of several trees for every tree cut down.
Idowu also called for greater use of technology, including drones, to accelerate tree planting in difficult-to-reach locations.
In his presentation, the Oyo State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Hon Ademola Aderinto, described climate change as a global phenomenon affecting everyone, warning that projections indicated the world could face a waste-management crisis within the next 15 years and an even more serious climate crisis within 20 years if current practices persisted.
‘Climate change is dealing with every one of us globally. No one is exempted. In the next 15 years, it is projected we will be having a global waste-management crisis. Within the next 20 years, we will be having a serious global climate change crisis if nothing is done,’ Aderinto warned.
He identified indiscriminate tree felling for land development, housing and business activities as a major threat to biodiversity and food security, stressing that tree planting remained a major part of the solution.
Aderinto urged residents and developers to replace trees removed for legitimate purposes with more trees, rather than merely replacing them on a one-for-one basis.
‘If you cut down one tree for any legitimate purpose, plant back more. It is no longer one for one. You cut down one, plant two, three, four back.
‘Why take down a tree if there is no need? Why not design your building with the tree in the layout?’ he queried.
He also urged residents to cultivate the habit of planting trees in their immediate environments.
‘Plant at least one tree where you live, where you walk and where you work,’ he appealed.
Earlier, the Dean, Faculty of Renewable and Natural Resources, Prof Joke Akinyeleru, said the second year of the one-million-tree commitment demonstrated the faculty’s determination to take practical steps towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those relating to climate action.
The Chairman of the association, Mr Idowu Adeshola, alongside other partners, including Mrs Florence Omolola of FOJ Multidynamic and Mr Azeez Rasaq of Rasbat International Resources Limited, said the initiative was designed to promote sustainable charcoal production and ensure that the charcoal business was conducted in compliance with Federal Ministry of Environment regulations.
They also disclosed that technology, including drone seeding, would be deployed as part of efforts to expand tree planting and improve forest protection.
The Chief Strategy Officer of FOJ Multidynamic Interchange Nigeria Limited, Florence Omolola, said the three-day programme was designed to promote sustainable charcoal production through sensitisation, youth engagement, tree planting and independent verification.
She said the verification phase would involve environmentalists, journalists, regulators, NGOs and other stakeholders to provide evidence of trees planted and enhance transparency.
Omolola said the initiative marked the beginning of a broader effort to make the charcoal business more environmentally responsible, expressing hope that the programme would grow beyond its one-million-tree target in subsequent years.