Saturday, July 18, 2009

TREE PLANNING CULTURE PRESERVES THE ENVIRONMNET




Rt. Hon Adeyemi Ikuforiji Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, called on residents of Lagos to imbibe the habit of planting trees to preserve the environment on Tuesday.Ikuforji made the call at the year 2009 tree planting campaign which held at Oba Ogunji Road in Agege where he led a team on behalf of the state governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola to plant trees on the road.

Answering questions from newsman after planting a tree, the speaker urged residents of the state to ensure that the dream of the state government towards a green environment was sustained."it should not be a one off thing but some thing we do every day. We need to protect our environment we all see what is happening. How much of rainfall have we had this year?"We have already had more than we should for the entire period.

The global warming is real and we need to protect our environment. "If we all get used to the idea, there may not be need to get special people to take care of the plants as people around would get used to the habit," he said.The speaker while delivering his welcome address stressed the state government’s commitment "to bring back as much greenery as possible" to ensure a safe and healthy environment.

Stressing the importance of trees, he said that trees had been scientifically proven to fight global warming as it absorbed carbon dioxide to replenish oxygen.He explained that the state was careful to preserve trees planted during its inaugural tree planting campaign last year by taking a census of the trees planted in Ikeja, Apapa and Ikoyi. He added that 3088 were counted in the three zones. He urged residents of the state to "join hands in protecting existing trees at every given opportunity" and make tree planting a culture.

Earlier, Dr Mrs Titi Anibaba, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment who represented Commissioner of Environment, Dr Muiz Baniz highlighted the importance various religions attached to tree planting. Anibaba cited some portions of the Holy Quran, the Holy Bible and some traditional dieties which gave strong backing to the support of tree planting and environmental protection.

Dr Saka Jimoh from the University of Ibadan (UI) who represented Professor Musiliu Onilude of the Department of Agricultural Engineering said that tree planting should not be left to government alone. Jimoh who demonstrated the practical method of planting trees to participants in the campaign, presented two species the Terminalia Montalis and the Queens Palm for planting.He explained that the Terminalia Montalis was good for open fields and front of houses only and should not be planted on road medians.

He however recommended the Queens Palm which the Speaker planted for road medians as it was shallow rooted and its roots would not spread nor penetrate deep to destroy underground cables.Mrs Kemi Nelson an Action Congress (AC) Leader in the state urged participants in the campaign "to show more love and passion for the environment" by making it a duty to ensure they nurtured the trees they planted.

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