Why Nigeria must beat Ethiopia’s tree planting record in 2024

In August 2019, Ethiopia planted 350 million trees in 12 hours. Before then, the record was held by India, which planted 50 million trees in 24 hours. Nigeria should aim to break Ethiopia’s record in July 2024 by planting 400 million trees in 12 hours. That equates to two trees for every citizen.

Why?

There are five reasons. First, Nigeria has lost 60% of its forest cover and continues to lose trees annually. This effort will significantly help in replacing what is lost.

Unify Nigeria

This project can unite all Nigerians, regardless of political affiliations. In the 2023 elections, the manifestos of APC, PDP, and Labour all included strategies for tackling the climate crisis. For instance, Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, proposed recruiting green guards.

By working together, we can achieve what seems impossible and find unity in something other than football. It’s significant that this initiative is citizen-driven rather than government-led.

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Also, both Christianity and Islam encourage tree planting. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “When a Muslim plants a tree, whatever is eaten from it is charity from him and whatever is stolen is charity, and whatever is subtracted from it is charity.”

Thus, religious leaders from groups like JNI and CAN will likely support this project.

Increasing a Tree Planting Culture

A major success of the Ethiopian campaign, even acknowledged by critics, was the embedding of tree planting in the national culture. It’s comparable to a concentrated awareness campaign packed into 12 hours.

Those who cut down trees for charcoal and export are often not involved in their planting. If they participate in planting, they are less likely to cut down trees planted by their community.

In psychology, this is known as the IKEA effect, where people value something more when they have put effort into creating it. For instance, involving a child in cooking can motivate them to eat.

Nigeria is a Big Brother

Africa contributes only 3% to global emissions, yet out of the 20 most impacted countries by climate change, 16 are African. This means Africa faces significant risks from climate change. Our people already suffer from floods, drought, and malnutrition. Nigeria should lead the way in addressing the climate crisis.

Improving on Ethiopia’s Approach

Many organizations tried to verify Ethiopia’s claim of planting 350 million trees but faced challenges due to the planting methodology. Our approach will allow independent verification using tools like World Forest Watch analysis or Google Earth Engine. More on that below. 

The Design and Structure

Considering Nigeria has 774 local government areas, each area will dedicate space to plant a forest.

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) highlights numerous benefits of planting forests, including stabilizing rainfall, increasing soil fertility, and reducing city temperatures.

If we plant 400 million trees, each local government will need to plant approximately 517,000 trees. To accommodate this, we can use the Akira Miyawaki model, planting three to five seedlings per square meter. With this method, up to 50,000 trees can be planted per hectare, requiring about 10 hectares per local government. Nationwide, this amounts to 7,740 hectares. These forests are expected to become self-sustaining within two to three years.

This project can be coordinated through the Governors’ Forum and ALGON.

However, involvement isn’t limited to local governments. Private farms, banks, universities, schools, NGOs, oil and gas companies, mosques, and churches can participate equally.

What Plant Varieties Are We Planting?

We will focus on fruit trees and native varieties, providing nutrition and preserving local biodiversity. At our 200MillionTrees initiative, for example, we have 32 native and 27 fruit varieties.

All we need is a charismatic leader and mobilizer, like VP Kashim Shetima or Farmer Governor Bago, and support from agencies like the National Council on Climate Change and the Great Green Wall.

Social, Environmental, and Economic Benefits

Imagine Nigeria with 774 new forests in three years. These forests will provide food, increase biodiversity, and generate income through tourism and local nurseries, among other benefits.

We have seven months to break this record. Let’s start now.

PS: 

As I was fact-checking this column I discovered that Ethiopia had already broken its own record by planting 560 million trees in a day in July 2023. 

“Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said 34 million Ethiopians came out on Monday to plant trees in over 300,000 hectares of land nationwide,” the report said. This means I’ve to update our numbers and target next week.