Timothy Adeyemi (ELP 2022) | Principal Research Fellow, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Nigeria
The Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria is saddled with the responsibility of forest plantation establishment and management in Nigeria, among other environmental-related responsibilities like ecosystem restoration, shelterbelt management, biodiversity conservation, environmental modeling, agroforestry, etc.
Map of Nigeria Map of Edo state showing Fugar on the northeastern part
Fugar is a small agrarian community in the Edo state of Nigeria. It is the headquarters of the Etsako Central Local Government Area of the state. About 60% of the populations in this local government area are farmers, hunters, and fishermen. The types of crops grown in the area are yams, cassava, and maizes. Other important commercial activities in the area are wood carving, blacksmithing, and small scale businesses during weekly markets for buying and selling. The total land area of Fugar is 250 sq miles (660 km2).
Land mapping and demarcation exercise
We adopted the taungya system of agroforestry to achieve our ultimate objective of reforesting and restoring the community ecosystem. In this approach, we allot lands to land-hungry local farmers to farm and plant their annuals alongside our tree species of interest.
Deforested landscape Our field workers at work
Ecosystem restoration project supervision in Fugar community