Nigeria to plant 25 million trees to absorb CO² – Buhari to UN

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday announced a massive reforestation plan, planting 25 million trees in Africa’s most populous nation.

Buhari who was speaking at the UN Climate Summit in New York, explained that the objective of this reforestation is to increase the carbon sink in the country.

This initiative will also respond to the urgent need for reforestation in a country that has lost about 96% of its forest cover.

“… We will mobilize Nigerian youth to plant 25 million trees to increase our carbon sink…” Nigerian President told delegates.

According to Mutari Aminu-Kano, Executive Director of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NFC), Nigeria loses about 400,000 hectares of its land each year due to deforestation.

“Nigeria currently has only 4% forest cover, the rest is gone,” he added.

“Nigeria is committed to its target of 30% clean or renewable energy by 2030. This is with a view to reducing our CO2 emissions by 179 million tons per year by 2030.”

As a reminder, 47 out of 54 African countries have signed the Paris climate agreement, but the campaign to fight effects of climate change is yet to gain momentum. Like many other countries, Nigeria has been hard-hit by drought, floods and water scarcity.