Zamfara: Fighting desertification with 100km wall of trees

The effort this time around is not unconnected with the move to put a stop to the fast encroaching desert that is making the lands more and more arid thereby compelling the settlers to migrate southwards.Mallam Haruna Musa, a herdsman residing in a settlement along Nigeria-Niger border, described the exercise as timely and very significant […]

The effort this time around is not unconnected with the move to put a stop to the fast encroaching desert that is making the lands more and more arid thereby compelling the settlers to migrate southwards.
Mallam Haruna Musa, a herdsman residing in a settlement along Nigeria-Niger border, described the exercise as timely and very significant to the wellbeing of the settlers and even grazing animals. “Look at that tree (pointing at a giant mahogany tree nearby), its specie is fast going into extinction because people are chopping down the tree for many purposes including medicinal and it will take several kilometers before you can see another of its type. Because the species are very few nowadays and it is as a result of man activities on the forest, so those ones you can find around these areas we guard them jealously. That is why you can still find some of them around here,” he lamented.
He said they settled in the forest and they are benefiting a lot from it because they and even their animals have depended on the trees for what to eat, so according to him, reviving the forest is a welcome development but if it continued to deplete, then it means they would have to resettle somewhere else because if the area is becoming more and more arid that means there would be no food for them and their animals.
Another resident, Hassan Isah, said when he first saw the men involved in the tree planting exercise inside the forest and even very close to his residence, their activities showed clearly that something serious was happening because of the level of commitment with which they were carrying it out.
 “They even planted some around my house as you can see and I believe it is my responsibility to take good care of them and if you go further down the road, you will meet them working. By now they must have covered a good number of kilometers, and let me tell you when a forest is alive, animal species inside are also alive because the moment you disturb the ecological balance through the unwarranted cutting down of trees, you are also scaring the animals away,” Isah added.
Aptly describing it as a move to check desert encroachment and an attempt to bring back the forest to its natural setting and resettle people in their natural environment, the state Commissioner for Environment Alhaji Mukatar Lugga said federal government under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Environment and in collaboration with Zamfara State government had started a 100km shelter belt in the state.
 He added that they are according the project  top priority. “As you know the desert is very fast advancing into the northern part of the country and the whole idea behind the project is to check this advancement and to stop people from migrating from the hinterlands to the southern part so that they will come back to these lands that used to be agriculturally fertile. In Zamfara state, we whole heartedly embraced it as you can see what we have done so far and we were able to cover at least 16 km within a week and we are making sure that this protective wall of trees become a reality and we will give it good protection.”
He said apart from shelter provision to check desertification, the programme is also meant to empower people economically as economic trees such as mangoes and guavas would be planted so that people would earn a living from there and would be encouraged back to their natural habitat, adding that empowering the inhabitants through orchard style of farming would also help greatly in liberating the people from the shackles of poverty.
 ‘The shelter belt is an initiative of Greenwall project and it starts from Zurmi extending to Shinkafi local government areas, covering one 100 kilometers along Nigeria-Niger Republic border. About 800,000 seedlings are to be used for this project and 48,000 seedlings have since been provided and will cover at least 16 km. A team of experts on tree plantation have been dispatched to these areas where agile youths have been deployed to carry out the tree planting exercise in the fast depleting forest.