On 25 August, IITA Forest Center contributed to ecosystem restoration in a tree planting exercise sponsored by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), with forest rangers from Okomu National Park, Edo State. Other participants included nature lovers from the Center for Sustainable Development, CESDEV-Ibadan, the Ibadan Bird Club, and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The planting ceremony commenced with a brief indoor session, highlighting the conservation efforts of the Forest Center. Forest Center Field Supervisor Ademola Ajayi, who anchored the meeting, explained the vital link between the IITA and Forest Center mandates. He said, “IITA is known to promote agricultural development through research and delivery. However, agriculture cannot thrive without a sustainable environment. This is where the Forest Center comes in.”
In her opening remarks, IITA Deputy Director General (DDG) Corporate Services, Hilde Koper, congratulated everyone for participating in such a critical exercise. She said, “Planting trees is for the future of everybody. The trees you will be planting today are either rare, endangered, or threatened species. You would be contributing to preserving what matters to live sustainably with our environment.” She was delighted to see young people from the Ibadan Bird Club show up to plant trees. She urged everyone to be good ambassadors of nature. She added, “People always want to do other things with the forest. So it is not easy to keep forests, but we have to keep maintaining forests. We can always spread the message. We can live together—trees, humans, animals, everyone together.”
Forest Center Manager Adewale Awoyemi corroborated the need to preserve the species the attendees would plant. He enjoined all to see the ceremonial tree planting as a selfless service to nature. He said, “Some of the trees we will plant today will mature in the next 40 years when some of us will be long gone. But we would have put treasures down on earth for generations to come.” He acknowledged that most of the tree seedlings planted during the ceremony were sourced from the Okomu National Park, which had able representatives at the event.
Participants proceeded to a cleared section of the Tree Heritage Park to plant seedlings in already dug holes marked with stakes. The Tree Heritage Park is the Forest Center’s Noah’s Ark to preserve ex-situ endangered, vulnerable, and threatened native trees. It serves as a live gene bank for native tree species. The species planted were Sterculia oblonga, Khaya ivorensis, Entandrophragma candollei, Strombosia pustulata, and Pterocarpus erinaceus.
The event witnessed the youngest nature ambassador, two-year-old Jethro Awoyemi, who eagerly volunteered to plant his tree seedling. It was a testament to how adults can cultivate children’s interest in nature and nature conservation very early in life. Ajayi took the opportunity to invite all to join the Ibadan Bird Club every last Saturday of the month, where nature lovers gather to enjoy nature at its best through bird watching.
Contributed by Folake Oduntan
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