Climate Watch: Plateau to plant 200,000 economic trees across 17 LGAs

Climate change directly affects our communities, health, and livelihoods.

Yet, media coverage often prioritises politics and business over climate-related stories, leaving crucial environment news under-reported.

Climate Watch seeks to bridge this information gap, ensuring that important climate change stories and mitigation efforts stay on your radar.

Here is a round up of last week’s climate stories:

The Plateau Agricultural Development Programme (PADP) has announced plans to plant 200,000 economic trees across the 17 LGAs of the state in 2025 to mitigate the impact of climate change. Ishaku Jilemsam, programme manager of PADP, spoke on May 8 during a training on smart agriculture for women in Bassa LGA.
The training was organised by Nuhu Yakubu, special adviser to Caleb Mutfwang on sustainable technology and carbon credit management.
Jilemsam noted that the initiative builds on the state’s previous efforts, following the planting of 100,000 economic trees in 2024. “This year, we will plant 200,000 trees,” he said.
“We realise that if you plant just any kind of trees, farmers might still cut them down, but if you plant trees with economic benefits, they are likely not to cut them down.”To support the project, Jilemsam said he had requested each local government chairman to allocate 500 hectares of land, with some LGAs already indicating readiness to provide the space.He commended the special adviser for organising the smart agriculture training, which he said would further promote eco-friendly farming practices in the state.
In his remarks, Yakubu explained that the training was designed to equip women with practical knowledge and skills in sustainable agriculture, as well as responding effectively to climate change and improving productivity.
Abbas Tajudeen, speaker of the house of representatives, says parliament is working to provide legal backing for the federal government’s renewable energy policy. Speaking at the first legislative conference and expo on renewable energy in Nigeria, Abbas said there is a need for the nation to adopt renewable energy to diversify the economy. He said this will help Nigeria to maintain financial stability while seeking investments that align with global trends. Read more here.
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and National Park Service have arrested three persons over alleged illegal trade in endangered wildlife species in Abuja. Nwamaka Ejiofor, NESREA’s assistant director of press, identified the suspects as Musa Usman, Samila Abdullahi and Saidu Jagaban. Ejiofor said they were apprehended for selling prohibited exotic birds and wild animals contrary to the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. Find out more here.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) says April 2025 was the second-hottest April on record globally. The report revealed that last month was 0.07°C cooler than the warmest April in 2024, and 0.07°C hotter than the third warmest in 2016. C3S said April 2025 was the 21st month in a 22-month period for which the global average surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Read more here.
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