Nigeria's dry areas face the twin environmental challenges of drought and desertification. The Department of Drought and Desertification Amelioration of the Federal Ministry of Environment and other agencies of Nigeria, which joined AFR100 in 2017, are working closely to combat these challenges through forest landscape restoration.
Restoration work that promotes environmental and political stability is already under way in the country’s northeast in the form of land recovery and job creation programs for internally displaced people. In commemoration of the 2018 World Day to Combat Desertification, the Department initiated a tree planting campaign. Around 300 tree seedlings were planted in a 0.75-hectare demonstration plot at the Keffi Army Barracks in Nasarawa State. Since signing onto the AFR100 Initiative and the Bonn Challenge one year ago, Nigeria has already brought an additional 900 hectares of land into restoration and intends to expand its restoration efforts in the coming months to build on the momentum after the Third Annual AFR100 Partnership Meeting.
