Mr Oladapo Soneye, the NCF’s Head of Communications, made
this known in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, ahead of the 2021 International
Day of Forest.
The statement noted that the partnership would reverse the
trend of deforestation in Nigeria and achieve the goals of preserving and
restoring the environment for the benefit of the people.
It said that the exercise would equally support NCF’s Green
Recovery Initiative, a 30-year programme aimed at increasing Nigeria’s forest
cover to at least 25 per cent over the next 30 years.
“We depend on forests for our survival as trees provide the
air we breathe.
“Forests also offer ecosystem services, enhance global food
security and mitigate effect of climate change,” Dr Muhtari Aminu-Kano,
Director General of NCF, was quoted as saying in the statement.
“As as a bank, we cannot overemphasise on the need to foster
a sustainable environment to ensure business and life continuity through tree
planting, carbon foot print reduction, recycling, amongst other sustainable
practices.
“We will continue to collaborate and initiate exercise like
this that aligns with our sustainable living culture as a bank,” Mr Olaniran
Olayinka, Managing Director of Keystone was also quoted as saying.
The initiative according to the statement was coming at a
time when Nigeria was said to have lost over 90 per cent of its forest cover to
degradation, unsustainable development and over-exploitation of the forest.
It also noted that the occasion would witness employees of
the bank planting seedlings of jack fruit, tenera oil palm, cashew and mango
donated by NCF, in their homes.
The International Day of Forests is usually celebrated on
March 21 annually and panelists from international organisations and civil
society highlight threats due to global deforestation issues and lack of
effective regulation. (NAN)
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