The Nigerian Conservation Foundation has called for greater collaboration with state governments in addressing pressing environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification.

Its Director-General, Dr. Joseph Onoja, made this appeal during the 2024 NCF Annual Green Ball held recently in Lagos, emphasising the importance of synergy in tackling interconnected environmental issues.

Onoja noted that the annual Green Ball serves as a platform to appreciate partners, raise funds, and amplify awareness about environmental challenges. “We cannot do it alone as NCF,” he said. “We rely on our partners, and we are calling for more people to join us as we work for nature and the environment so that it can work for us.”

The 2024 Green Ball highlighted the integration of three major United Nations environmental conventions: the convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the convention to Combat Desertification.

Onoja underscored the need for solutions that address these issues simultaneously, stressing, “We want to create that synergy (of environmental solutions) because there’s a common causative factor, so why not the solution coming together as well? There will be synergy so that resources that can be used to take care of one can also be used to take care of all.

“We don’t want the situation whereby while you are combating one, you are exacerbating another one. For instance, you don’t want to be combating climate change while at the same time, I mean, creating biodiversity loss, deforestation, and so on. An example I gave is that you don’t want to start looking for rare earth metals where you have a biodiverse area, because when you start mining in biodiverse areas, you are trying to solve climate change by using renewable energies, but are now destroying biodiversity.

“So, we want a situation whereby everything can come together so that we will be able to work together and provide that synergy, and then when there’s that synergy, we can all move together.”

Further, Onoja highlighted the NCF’s ongoing mangrove restoration efforts as part of its Green Recovery Nigeria programme.

The NCF DG revealed that over 20,000 mangrove seedlings had been planted across coastal regions, including 5,000 at the National Theatre wetlands in Lagos. “Wetlands are not wastelands. They act as natural sponges to prevent flooding and maintain ecological balance,” he explained.

These restoration projects extend to states like Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom, with the NCF collaborating with local communities and organisations.

Onoja highlighted the NCF’s collaboration with the federal government and international entities. He pointed to the Foundation’s active participation in the National Council on Climate Change and the Cross River State Climate Change Council.

He added the NCF also contributes technical expertise to global negotiations, ensuring Nigeria’s interests are protected in international environmental agreements.

“Our partnerships are essential for influencing policy and implementing conservation programmes,” Onoja stated.

He added that NCF’s role extends to building capacity for transparency in reporting under the Paris Agreement, focusing on sectors like transportation, energy, and waste management.

The NCF’s efforts align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 17, which emphasises partnerships for achieving environmental objectives.

Onoja urged stakeholders to recognise the interconnectedness of climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification, remarking, “These issues are two sides of the same coin. By addressing them together, we can optimise resources and avoid creating new problems while solving existing ones.”

The Green Ball also served as an opportunity to reflect on international negotiations and their implications for Nigeria as Onoja underscored the need for Global South countries like Nigeria to secure equitable funding and support from Global North nations for sustainable development and conservation.

Meanwhile, Chairman, NCF National Executive Council, Justice Raliat Adebiyi, called on Nigerians to adopt environmentally conservative lifestyles, stressing the need to “use energy-efficient appliances when we have energy.”

Adebiyi emphasised personal contributions, noting, “Less energy, renewable energy. In moving around, adopt more walking or riding if it’s safe where you live or use electric vehicles that do not burn petrol or diesel to reduce greenhouse emissions.

“In our eating, eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Less dairy will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce overgrazing in addition to helping our wastelands. In our purchases of clothes and electronics, buy less. Imbibe a culture of repair and reuse.

“At work, what can we do? Print less, reduce carbon footprints. Go paperless and reduce physical meetings. I know we’ve done that a lot, both locally and internationally.

She called on Nigerians to avoid single-use plastics, sort our waste, reduce landfills, and adopt natural solutions, protecting landscapes by limiting deforestation and biodiversity by planting trees.

“Create green areas around you, even if you live in a flat or a built-up area,” Adebiyi asserted. “Let us remain as advocates of conservation and remember, climate change is real.”