Two Niger Delta communities of Okwuzi and Erema both in Rivers State have been trained in the areas of forest conservation and production of energy-efficient stove as part of effort in combating deforestation and devastating climatic conditions in Nigeria.
In an interview with journalists shortly after the training session, the Programme Officer of Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Idongesit Alexander explained that the programme was on community dialogue on conservation of forest and how communities can even plant more trees to replace the used ones to combat climate change. She also said that the tree releases oxygen and takes in carbon-dioxide.
Alexander maintained that planting more trees would help to better the environment and reduce the effect of climate change, and that the training would also make the people to know the importance of tree planting.
Some of the participants said that they would plant trees in Okwuzi, while those in Erema appealed to government to help them in planting more trees which could protect them from the effect of climate change.
In his remarks, Umo Isiah Ikoh of Environmental Justice and Peace Building said the training was part of efforts by the NGO to conserve the forest from more deforestation through over use by the community for domestic purposes. According to him, “the efficient firewood stove will help reduce the negative impact on our forest.”
He further said that communities in Akwa Ibom State like Ibono have been trained and that they are today benefiting from the knowledge they acquired.
When asked why the training, he said that the aim was to impact knowledge that could protect the environment.
He further explained that the material used for the production of the stove include clay, water and dust, and that the government at all levels should facilitate more training in more communities to reduce the impact of climate change.
Nkem Odoya in her remarsk told journalists that the training was about entrepreneurship and skill development which would help to preserve livelihood.
Odoya, who is one of the resource persons, said that the importance of forest and its sustainability was critical and crucial to the wellbeing of community members.
She stressed that the impact of climate change was enormous but that the training would help to mitigate it through awareness creation. “Sustainability is preservation and it is for the future generations,” she said.
Some of the participants expressed gratitude to Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre and Women Environmental Programme for the training, saying that it would help them to preserve the forest, the animals and fishes for the sake of the future generations.
“We have benefited and we can plant trees and keep the forest in our communities and the forest will bring a lot of benefits to us; we will start to put into practice what they have taught us,” the participants said.
