Ondo to plant 10 million trees to revive forest reserves

By Boye Oyeyemi –

The Ondo State Government has announced plans to plant 10 million trees across its forest reserves as part of efforts to restore degraded forests and promote environmental sustainability.

Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Olaleye Akinola, disclosed this at a news conference in Akure, saying the government had begun setting up nurseries to raise seedlings for the afforestation programme.

He said some of the seedlings would be given to farmers free of charge and monitored for two years to ensure survival.

“The Ondo State Government will not leave replanting in the hands of those who contributed to deforestation without proper supervision. This administration is fully committed to balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability,” he said.

Akinola said only cocoa farmers who plant trees on their farms would be allowed to remain within government forest reserves.

He explained that each farmer would pay N250000 per hectare as levy, N150000 for mapping and N100000 for agro forest development.

“Cocoa from Ondo State will not be allowed into global market if the forest policy is not properly carried out by December 2025. By December, only cocoa farmers with traceable farms will be eligible to sell their produce in line with global market and European Union traceability standards,” he said.

The commissioner also revealed that the government was preparing new legislation to classify forest areas into three zones which include the Core Zone for tree planting, the Sustainability Zone for regulated farming and the Buffer Zone for future expansion.