Environmental Activist Donates Tree Seedlings In Niger

The founder of Sustainable Environment Vanguard, Muhammad Dakpanchi, has donated more than 20 saplings to Minna, Niger State as part of his advocacy for community tree planting for a greener and sustainable environment.

The seedlings, when nurtured, would lessen deforestation and the effects of climate change, according to Dapkanchi, who spoke in an interview on Tuesday in Abuja.

He lamented the fact that individuals continue to engage in practices that promote deforestation without considering the harm it was doing to them.

As a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Dakpanchi claimed he needed to reproduce it in his surroundings after helping plant seedlings in Jigawa State in 2017.

“During my NYSC, I was privileged to be in the Environmental and Sanitation Group when serving in Jigawa and during that time, I headed a project called Plant a Tree (PAT).

“After my service year, I felt I can do more in my state and since then I have been engaging with some community and religious leaders, and youth groups, especially in Niger state.

“For this year, I have donated over 20 seedlings to individuals, and communities on self-sponsorship.

“In areas like Lagun, Mokwa and other areas, there is the indiscriminate habit of cutting down trees leading to a serious deforestation in those areas,’’ he said.

However, he claimed that to raise awareness about the need to stop the pointless destruction of trees, he had printed stickers for homes, businesses, and commercial vehicles.

He claims that if I have access to more money, I will be able to accomplish more because, typically, when I provide seedlings for planting, the neighbourhood or specific people want you to pay to care for them.

“People will keep asking if I have money to pay them but I have devised a means of looking out for passionate people to look after the seedlings for nurturing anywhere I donated.

“If I have the fund, I will provide the seedling and the protection as well, because it is about protection, nurturing the trees to grow,’’ he said.

Generally speaking, according to Dakpanchi, space technology can be used to improve afforestation efforts.

“To address issues of deforestation, we can use a space technology-based approach through the use of satellite images to analyse areas that have been deforested over some years.

“We can also do a mapping of potential open spaces that are suitable for reforestation and afforestation,’’ he said.