The Federal Government of Nigeria has called on charcoal merchants and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector to adopt sustainable practices and support efforts to reverse deforestation and restore the country's degraded forests. This appeal was made by the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abass Lawal, at the flag-off of the 2026 Operation One Million Trees programme in Ibadan. Lawal emphasized the need for precautionary steps, including tree planting, to avert impending environmental dangers.
Deforestation poses a serious threat to Nigeria's environment and economic growth, according to the Minister of Environment. He stressed that tree planting is critical to combating climate change, restoring biodiversity, checking desertification, and strengthening the resilience of Nigeria's ecosystems. The Federal Ministry of Environment is implementing various afforestation and forest restoration initiatives, including the 2026 National Afforestation Programme and the Sovereign Green Bond Afforestation Programme.
The Operation One Million Trees programme, organized by the Association for Forest Conservation and Green Industrial Charcoal Merchants, aims to promote sustainable charcoal production and ensure compliance with Federal Ministry of Environment regulations. The programme's success will be measured not only by the number of seedlings planted but also by their survival and growth into healthy trees. The Minister of Environment urged participants to comply with existing forestry laws and regulations.
Chairman of the Association for Forest Conservation and Green Industrial Charcoal Merchants, Adeshola Adebowale Idowu, urged charcoal merchants and Nigerians to replace trees removed from the environment with new ones. He advocated for the planting of several trees for every tree cut down and called for greater use of technology, including drones, to accelerate tree planting in difficult-to-reach locations.
Oyo State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Hon Ademola Aderinto, described climate change as a global phenomenon affecting everyone. He warned that projections indicated the world could face a waste-management crisis within the next 15 years and a serious climate crisis within 20 years if current practices persist. Aderinto identified indiscriminate tree felling for land development, housing, and business activities as a major threat to biodiversity and food security.
Commissioner 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. He appealed to residents to cultivate the habit of planting trees in their immediate environments, suggesting that at least one tree should be planted where people live, work, or walk. The Dean of the 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 achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The initiative, which aims to promote sustainable charcoal production, will deploy technology, including drone seeding, to expand tree planting and improve forest protection. The programme's verification phase will involve environmentalists, journalists, regulators, NGOs, and other stakeholders to provide evidence of trees planted and enhance transparency. The Chief Strategy Officer of FOJ Multidynamic Interchange Nigeria Limited, Florence Omolola, expressed hope that the programme would grow beyond its one-million-tree target in subsequent years.
Key points
- The Nigerian government has launched the 2026 Operation One Million Trees programme to promote sustainable charcoal production and reverse deforestation.
- The programme aims to plant one million trees and promote sustainable practices among charcoal merchants and other stakeholders.
- The success of the programme will be measured by the survival and growth of the planted trees into healthy forests.
