The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), has called on Nigerians to plant trees, and shrubs to mitigate flooding and erosion in the country.
The Director-General of NESREA, Prof. Aliyu Jauro, made the appeal in an interview on Sunday in Abuja.
Jauro noted that the agency had a special regulation on erosion control.
“As an agency we have a specific regulation to do with erosion control, national, environmental and flood control.
“So, it is a serious issue and we have a laid down process on what is expected to be done, so we sensitise the public.
“You know when it comes to erosion, there is a lot of factors responsible for erosion, like over – cultivation of agricultural land will expose the ground to erosion.
“There is need for us to always plant trees that bind the soil together. Also, the way we plan and build structures are responsible for these issues of blocked drainages.
“We dump waste anyhow and when it rains, water must find its way, these are some of the things responsible for erosion.
“When there is flooding, there is erosion,” the NESREA chief executive explained.
Jauro also noted that global warming was another factor responsible for erosion saying that when the earth got warmer, it caused heavy downpour which resulted to soil erosion or flooding.
He noted that some specific shrubs could be planted to check the menace of erosion.
Jauro said that when trees were regularly planted, the soil would not be affected when the rains came.
“There are shrubs now that can be planted in erosion prone areas, they bind themselves together and they check these erosions.
“So, we all need to come together to pay our dues, do the right thing, we should be in the habit of planting trees so that the soil will not be eroded,” he said.
On gas flaring, Jauro said there was a sister agency under the Ministry of Environment responsible for issues of oil spillage, though NESREA was still part of the efforts to tackle air pollutants.
He said that NESREA was collaborating with other agencies to sensitise the public on the hazards of all these environmental problems.
