{"id":14586,"date":"2026-06-20T12:36:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/ministry-of-forestry-commits-to-reforesting-more-degraded-lands-in-southwestern-nigeria\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:24:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:24:36","slug":"ministry-of-forestry-commits-to-reforesting-more-degraded-lands-in-southwestern-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/ministry-of-forestry-commits-to-reforesting-more-degraded-lands-in-southwestern-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Ministry of Forestry commits to reforesting more degraded lands in southwestern Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following Centre forestier de l'IITA<\/a>\u2019s impactful contributions to forest restoration in Africa, the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry has committed to further community-based reforestation programs and activities. On 1 February, IITA Forest Center signed another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reforest additional 300 hectares of the Olokemeji Forest Reserve to implement the AFR100 reforestation project. This followed the successful implementation of an ongoing reforestation project in the area\u2014a tripartite public-private partnership between Nigerian Breweries, Ogun State Ministry of Forestry, and IITA Forest Center, to reforest over 600 hectares of the Olokemeji Forest Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"(L-R)
(L-R) Permanent Secretary Rotimiolu Akinlesi, Commissioner for Forestry Engr Taiwo Oludotun, IITA DDG-CS Hilde Koper-Limbourg, and IITA Head of Legal Services Morenike Abu displaying copies of the signed MoU between IITA Forest Center and the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new project is funded by the TerraFund for AFR100<\/a>\u2014a conglomerate effort of World Resource Institute (WRI), One Tree Planted, and Realize Impact. IITA Forest Center made the top 100 African (AFR100) enterprises and projects who won the grant to contribute to the donor\u2019s goal of restoring 20 million hectares of forest lands in Africa, by 2026. The Forest Center approached the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry to request for more land to reforest, and in less than two years from an initial MoU signed with the Nigerian Breweries to reforest 600 hectares of Olokemeji Forest Reserve, another agreement was signed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was attended by Directors of the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry, invitees from selected NGOs, the Baale of Olokemeji, the host community, representatives of IITA, and members of the press. In his welcome address, the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry Permanent Secretary, Dr Rotimiolu Akinlesi, thanked everyone who plants a tree to ameliorate the climate crisis and reverse forest degradation worldwide. According to him, \u201cIf you plant a tree, you are saving a life.\u201d He assured IITA Forest Center of the uttermost cooperation of the Ministry in fulfilling its part of the agreed partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Attendees
Attendees listening to a goodwill speech by a forestry ambassador at the MoU signing event.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Honorable Commissioner for Forestry, Engineer Taiwo Oludotun, was pleased to have IITA come on board again to partner with the Ministry in achieving the goal of reforesting the degraded forests in Ogun State. He said, \u201cToday is a remarkable day and we are full of joy. Of the nine Forest Reserves in Ogun State, two to three have gone into extinction. The rate of exploitation of our forests in recent times is alarming. We\u2019ve sought the engagements of NGOs and other corporate bodies to join hands with us to plant trees in our fallow lands and restore our degraded forests.\u201d He revealed that one of the priorities of his administration is to plant trees\u2014indigenous trees\u2014that will boost the livelihoods and improve the living conditions of the people of Ogun State. He lauded IITA for their competent handling of these reforestation projects and assured the Institute of more lands for reforestation purposes as much as the Institute requires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IITA Deputy Director General, Corporate Services (DDG-CS), Hilde Koper-Limbourg<\/a>, gave a brief history of IITA\u2019s contributions beyond agricultural development to environmental protection and natural resources conservation. She said, \u201cNigeria is losing a lot of trees, and we have to do something. We\u2019ve got grants to plant trees and we have to plant them somewhere. And that led us here.\u201d She thanked the Commissioner and Ogun State Ministry of Forestry for their continued support and solicited further backing from everyone present to drive the project\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributed by Folake Oduntan <\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following IITA Forest Center\u2019s impactful contributions to forest restoration in Africa, the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry has committed to further community-based reforestation programs and activities.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":14587,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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