Anambra Want To Battle erosion With 1m Trees

Awka—THE Anambra state government has concluded plans to plant one million trees in the state as part of efforts to curb the menacing effects of gully erosion in the state. Managing Director of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority, Mr. Michael Okonkwo, who is also the chairman of the steering committee of the tree planting exercise, said his committee had visited Lagos State to understudy that state’s Greenery Projects programme aimed at developing Parks and Gardens at strategic areas. According to him, Anambra State would soon replicate some of the Greenery Projects similar to that of Lagos to check the menace of erosion and soil degradation, especially in the erosion-prone areas of the state. He said the tree planting exercise would also enhance the re-forestation programme of the state and federal governments designed to address the challenges of deforestation and its attendant consequences on the environment. Okonkwo added that the state government would also embark on a state -wide campaign for individuals, religious bodies and organizations to key into the exercise, adding that arrangements have also been put in place for every school child to plant a tree in Anambra State. He explained that the exercise would kick-start with the planting of over four thousand trees along the Enugu-Onitsha expressing within the Awka Capital Territory as a pilot project, while the entire state would be covered within the shortest possible period. To ensure that the trees were protected and nurtured, Okonkwo said the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, have been equipped to take full responsibility of protecting the young plants. He however regretted that individuals and communities living in erosion- prone areas have not done enough to checkmate the incidence of environmental degradation and urged them to take the programme serious. Vanguard