*But where are the trees?

Since independence, various governments, both military and civilian, have set aside days celebrated across the country as tree planting days.

The ceremony which has in the last few years become an annual routine, is usually carried out with fun fare and a lot of jamborees as political, community and religious leaders take turn to plant trees which are procured for the ceremony but are never catered for after the event.

In the last three years, the Federal Government has allocated over N1.5 billion for tree planting nationwide in the appropriation bills, making the annual campaign a legitimate ritual.

This development, according to Daily Trust investigation has led to the spurting up of emergency forest in city centres or areas not designated as such across the states of the federation.

According to the allocations contained in the Ministry of Environment budget for 2012, the sum of N828 million was allocated for tree planting, N70 million was set aside for forest resources development and tree planting campaigns while the establishment of woodlots plantation in Katsina and Jigawa states was voted the sum of N38 milliion.

In 2013, tree planting was allocated over N129 million and the sum of over N24 million was set aside for community base Natural Regeneration and Reforestation in Yobe and Kebbi states.

In 2014, the sum of N400 million was allocated to tree planting, while forest resources development management and tree planting nationwide has the sum of N70 million.

Inspite of all this huge investment, statistics from the ministry shows that the nation forestry cover has continued to reduce seriously as it has gone below 40 per cent since 1960.

A recent forest resources study carried out by the ministry revealed that the forest estate of Nigeria has been highly depleted. It was estimated that only about 974,674 hectares of the forest reserves was productive while another 2,342,147 hectares of free areas is partially productive.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation 9.9 per cent or about 9,041,000 ha of Nigeria is forested, Nigeria had 382,000 ha of planted forest and that Nigeria lost an average of 409,650 ha or 2.38 per cent per year.

Daily Trust check in Benue, Kaduna, Baysela and Kwara showed that most of the tree seedlings raised under various reforestations programmes since 1999 were abandoned at the nurseries where they were raised.

Experts have emphasized the importance of tree planting in the environment in order to help fight the menace of climate change and environmental degradation. 

Prof. Is-Haq Olanrewaju Oloyede of the University of Ilorin in a paper entitled sustainable tree planting: Benefits and challenges, Unilorin experiences, noted that understanding the degree to which trees actually maintain life on our planet is critical to our survival, and highly interesting. He said: "Without trees, human life would be unsustainable. We need trees to be alive because our lives depend on the availability of air, water and food. Trees help us get oxygen (air) and help in keeping our soil healthy so we can grow food. Trees provide a wide range of products (timber, fruit, medicine, beverages, fodder and oils) and life-supporting services (carbon sequestration, erosion control, soil fertility, shade and beautification). 

"However, our trees and forests are rapidly disappearing at an alarming rate. Towards our own self-destruction, the deforestation of our planet has happened as the world's population has grown.  Our planet is in peril. Everywhere, the beauty of green is being replaced by the grey of concrete. With the loss of forests and green cover throughout the planet, more and more species of floral and fauna are becoming extinct.  Deforestation is the singular reason that makes most of our world's ecological imbalances."

The professor said that it was necessary to fashion out a national policy on tree planting that would protect the planters and provide enabling environment for them. "A national protocol in nursery establishment for the production of good quality seedlings of various useful trees is desirable and urgently required. There is also the need for proper breeding and selection for our trees to achieve something akin to the genetically modified (GM) food crops and animals. This will help in incorporating good quality characters such as fast growth, early fruiting etc. into our various tree species."

He was of the view that all afforestation projects should carry along the indigenous people to reduce tension/friction, thereby reducing the cost of policing the plantation to protect it from human dangers.

Newton Jibounh, founder of FADE and an environmentalist calling attention to desertification on the continent, said that the trees planted over the years cannot be seen or accounted for because the communities where they were planted were not involved in the process.

According to Prof. Bruce Nelson of the University of Southern California, "People who will not sustain trees will soon live in a world which cannot sustain people."

Planting of trees has potential for a lot of benefits to human life and to the country considering the devastating impact erosion, desertification and other environmental challenges which the tree has the capacity to curtail. Government should move from mere allocation, ceremonial planting and adopt a sustainable approach that would ensure that the trees planted today increase the nation's forest cover tomorrow and also provide a source of livelihood to those who will water and nurture it.