IITA Forest Center received donor representatives of the AFR1OO reforestation project in Olokemeji on 14 October. The representatives, Eunice Adofo Boanya and Samuel Appiah Ofori, arrived to assess the project’s progress and provide support where necessary. And despite heavy rainfall on this day, the forest staff’s dedication and the donors’ determination made the day.
They were pleased to see the already growing trees as they learned of their economic importance and broader value for biodiversity conservation. They were inspired and impressed by the evident socio-economic impact this reforestation project was already making, hearing the story of Samuel Peters Taiwo, one of IITA Forest Center’s local staff at Olokemeji, who came in as a casual worker in 2022 and is now a staff. Taiwo saved money from his earnings to register as a forestry student at the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB), Abeokuta. He is now training to be a certified forester. The Commissioner for Forestry Ogun State, Engineer Taiwo Oludotun, expressed the state’s support for the ongoing reforestation projects in Olokemeji and called for stakeholders to meet with the forest rangers, farmers, and herders to discuss and develop plans to protect the planted trees in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve.
The stakeholders discussed the security and fire outbreak challenges bedeviling the reforestation efforts of the IITA Forest Center at Olokemeji. The farmers highlighted the influx and grazing of cows as the major challenge to combat. The rangers and local security guards require additional security gadgets.
Olukunle Olasupo, IITA Forest Center Field Supervisor, passionately appealed to those present to do everything possible to let the planted seedlings survive, grow, and thrive. He elucidated that the current excessive and erratic rainfall pattern is one of the resultant effects of deforestation. Since farmers are afraid their planted cassava may rot in the soil if the rains persist, it was a perfect time to point out the adverse effect of the absence of trees and biodiverse species in the forests.
Aside from the immediate gains of salary sustenance for workers, the success of the reforestation project would also generate revenue for the people of Olokemeji and Ogun State. When the forest is restored, wildlife will return to its habitat and become a tourist attraction. Olasupo called for a united front to tackle these challenges, exposing herder influences and engaging fire mitigation practices. Gaining a deeper apprehension of the importance of forests to humans, the farmers resolved to pay more attention and properly care for the trees planted in their farming spaces.
The Olokemeji Forest Reserve team leader, Adeyanju Johnson Alade, representing the Commissioner, charged the farmers to plant at least 200 trees in their farming areas as they temporarily plant food crops in the Forest Reserve. The Ministry of Forestry called for the support of all to ensure the successful restoration of the Olokemeji Forest Reserve (OFR) with native tree species.
Contributed by Folake Oduntan
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