NCF seeks urgent actions to address climate change

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation has said that urgent actions have to be taken to protect the environment by combating deforestation, restoring ecosystems, and mitigating the impacts of climate change.

According to a statement, the foundation stated this during their 35th annual general meeting held recently in Lagos.

The Director General of NCF, Dr Joseph Onoja, raised the alarm that building on flood parts made it difficult for the flood to move, thereby causing flooding, which might lead to small island places disappearing, loss, and damage to lives and properties.

“There is a need for urgent action to be taken in protecting the environment through combating deforestation, restoring ecosystems, and mitigating the impacts of climate change,” he added.

Onoja mentioned that the foundation had recorded successes in the area of planting over 285,000 trees in over 20 states in the country.

Earlier, the Chairman of the foundation, Justice (Mrs) Raliatu Adebiyi, explained that the organisation was advocating for the use of recycled bottles instead of plastics.

According to Adebiyi, this is to address the pollution caused by plastics, particularly in the seas and oceans where they are often dumped.

“The foundation also will invest in these priorities of promoting sustainable practices, capacity building, advocacy, and policy influence,” she said.

Representative of the Lagos State Government, the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Toke Awoyinka, promised that more support would be given to the foundation in pursuing its worthy causes.

During his speech, the President of the Board of Trustees of the foundation, Izoma Asiodu, emphasised that the 1960 report’s warning about the environmental consequences of the Industrial Revolution should have been taken more seriously, adding that the report highlighted the damaging effects of deforestation and increased carbon dioxide emissions on the environment.

He stated that the foundation had undertaken various reforestation and habitat projects and that was in addition to the various management of forest reserves.