Read at : Google Alert – desertification
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?datex=08/14/ReportComment.aspx?com&theartic=Art201105230541657
By Stanley Opara
Deforestation and desertification are estimated to be costing the global economy between $2.5tn and $4.5tn a year, according to the Nigerian Conservation Foundation.
The losses, which are tied to issues of forest exploitation, are probably more than what the world economy shed as a result of the global financial crisis.
The Education Adviser, NCF, Dr. Babatunde Lawal, said this at the preliminary of the World Environment Day schools’ competition organised by the foundation and the Nigerian Bottling Company Plc in Lagos on Friday.
Speaking on the theme, “Forest for People, Forest for Green Growth,” Lawal said that the United Nations’ choice of forest as a theme for 2011 WED celebration demanded that conscious efforts must be put in place to promote the conservation and use of forest resources in a manner that would ensure future use.
According to him, such activities should also contribute to meaningful reduction in the pollution of the environment through the use of firewood, petrol, gas and coal.
He said there should also be maintenance of friendly interaction of the different kinds of system (trees, soil, insects, birds, animals, and man) that were found in the environment.
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