Environment
Tree planting has been identified as one of the most sustainable ways of countering the effects of pollution in the environment.
Malam Nurudeen Lemu, a research expert with Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) made this known on Saturday while speaking at a tree planting campaign in Minna.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the exercise was carried out in collaboration with the Nigeria Environmental Society as part of activities to commemorate the 2018 World Environment Day.
“Trees can convert what we call a pollution like excess carbohydrate into something that people can eat and animals can feed on.
“They are able to breathe in carbon dioxide and through photosynthesis they produce their leaves, they grow and become bio-degradeable.
“They are the biggest recycling pieces of technology we have on the planet,” he added.
Lemu called on people to plant trees to protect the environment, adding that it was also a form of charity to humans, plants and animals.
“I would like to implore you to look for the opportunity to plant trees and protect it and let it grow.
“Planting a tree is charity for a bird that needs to rest; for worm or caterpillar that is looking for food and for someone who just needs a shade.
“Part of our lives should be to offset the negative impact we have on society by the pollution we produce,” he said.
In his remarks, the president of African RCE’s and Coordinator, Minna RCE, Dr Abdul Hussaini, said the centre would plant 200 trees in the three arms zone of the state capital to protect the area.
Hussaini noted that a total of 2,000 trees will be planted across the state by the centre in collaboration with other organisations.
He called for more concerted efforts by government and other stakeholders to convert waste, especially plastics, into wealth through recycling.
“We must recycle the plastic wastes around us so that it spends more time being useful rather than becoming a pollution.
“If we decide to just burn it, we are changing it to another form of pollution; instead of physical pollution, it now becomes atmospheric pollution,” he said.
