…as Adamawa GGW programme makes steady progress

In Adamawa State, the programme has been able to establish over 200 hectares of woodlots and orchards in Madagali, Michika, Mubi north, Hong, Song and Guyuk local government areas.
The overall design and implementation strategy adopted by the programme in the state is geared towards combating the menace of desertification and mitigate climate change.
Mr Peter Jatau Mamza, Adamawa Desk Officer said that the GGW programme was also meant to improve the socio-economic status of communities living along the corridor through the provision of skill acquisition centres and the recruitments of youth as forest guards.
Mamza said as a result of the programme, nine boreholes have been drilled in the participating local government areas to provide water for the communities, livestock and for watering the orchards and woodlots during the dry seasons.
The programme according to him, has introduced forestry clubs in primary and secondary schools to plant and manage trees in their schools and houses for biodiversity conservation.
He said that the programme is currently embarking on awareness creation among the residents of Adamawa on the need to stop indiscriminate felling of trees and stop bush burning to protect plants and animals.
Other areas the awareness is covering include the excessive use of agro-chemicals to avoid soil sterility and the need for the people to know that for every tree fell, they should plant another five trees.
Daily Trust recalled that the former Minister of Environment, Laurentia Laraba Mallam said in March that with the wave of dramatic successes being recorded in the onslaught against insurgents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the implementation of all aspects of the Great Green Wall Project in the affected states will soon resume.
The minister then explained that the programme just like any other human activity in the affected states had to grind to a halt following the state of insecurity in the area. She assured that the pace of implementation of the programme will be accelerated in the affected areas, in order to make up for the lost period. According to her, seedlings and other forms of preparations are being made in readiness for the resumption of tree planting, shelter belts and orchards.
The Environment Minister indicated that the assurance became necessary following fears expressed by members of the public that the programme has been abandoned in the three states, maintaining that the mandate of the programme covers eleven states in the northern region. She noted that no state will be denied its share of the project, saying varied nursery beds of crops and plants are being raised in the peaceful areas of the affected states in preparation for transfer to the fields for planting as soon as the arsenal expires.
Laurentia Mallam expressed appreciation to all the state governors and traditional rulers in the affected states for the overwhelming support they have rendered in the course of implementing the programme in the past two years. She assured that the project when completed will turn around the fortunes of Northern Nigeria.