Ogun State has been selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) among three other states in the country to benefit from its biodiversity project to protect the environment.
This was revealed by the Head of UNESCO Nigeria Office, Jean-Paul Abiaga, during a visit to the Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Tokunbo Talabi, on Tuesday in Abeokuta.
Abiaga explained that the biodiversity project, valued at $1 million, would lift no less than 600 participants across the state out of poverty through education, forestry and agricultural practices.
He noted that the project would be developed within the Omo Biosphere Reserve, which covers Ijebu North and Ijebu East local government areas of the state, just as he also chose the Oban Biosphere Reserve in Cross-River and the Shere Hills Reserve in Jos, Plateau State, respectively.
“The business of biodiversity is a means to poverty reduction, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development,” he said.
Abiaga further revealed that 200 beneficiaries had been identified, while the remaining participants would still be nominated by stakeholders in 10 communities in the two designated local government areas.
He added that businesses will be revived and developed as the biodiversity project will lift youth out of poverty through technical, financial and educational support in pig farming and fish farming.
The Ogun SSG, in his speech, thanked UNESCO for the support and partnership that would boost the state government’s anti-deforestation campaign and crusade against illegal human activities in the Omo Forest Reserve, which is a land area of approximately 130,500 hectares with high biodiversity and a variety of vegetation, including the Omo River.
Talabi noted that the Omo forest also contained more than 200 types of trees, 125 species of birds and numerous mammals, such as the chimpanzee, the forest elephant and the endangered white-throated guenon monkey, among others.
The SSG assured UNESCO of the full support of the state government for the project to meet its stated objectives, adding that the government would mobilize and galvanize the necessary support through its relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, among others.
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