Nigeria is betting about $1 billion on its forests, seeking to turn the country’s growing environmental challenges into an economic opportunity through a 10-year strategy targeting massive forest restoration, new green jobs, sustainable agriculture and increased climate investment.
The plan, known as the Securing Nigeria’s Forest Future (SNFF) Country Package, was launched on Tuesday in Abuja by the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, with strong support from the European Union, Germany and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
Under the framework, Nigeria aims to mobilise approximately $1 billion in blended finance, restore two million hectares of degraded forest, reduce deforestation by 20 per cent, create 1.5 million green jobs and strengthen climate resilience for more than five million Nigerians.
Lawal said the initiative marked a departure from isolated forest interventions, stressing that Nigeria now required a coordinated investment framework capable of bringing government, private capital, development partners and communities into a common programme.
He said the country’s forests were fundamental to livelihoods, agriculture, biodiversity, water security and climate resilience, but were increasingly threatened by agricultural expansion, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and urbanisation.
The Minister said government funding alone could not deliver the scale of intervention required, making private investment, blended finance and carbon finance essential to the success of the strategy.
He urged the private sector and financial institutions to identify commercially viable opportunities in sustainable forest management and forest-based value chains, while insisting that investment must generate tangible benefits for communities.
Women and young people, he said, must also have meaningful opportunities in the emerging green economy.
The European Union said Nigeria’s forest agenda must be viewed alongside agriculture, trade and economic development, warning that the way commodities are produced and land is managed will increasingly determine the country’s economic opportunities.
Speaking at the launch, the EU Head of Partnerships, Massimo De Luca, said experiences from the Amazon, Congo Basin, Southeast Asia and the Sahel had demonstrated the consequences of weak forest governance and unsustainable land use.
He said they had also shown that strong institutions, community participation, sustainable agriculture, restoration and international cooperation could reverse environmental degradation.
De Luca highlighted EU support for the protection of Nigeria’s natural assets, including Gashaka Gumti National Park and Cross River National Park, as part of wider efforts to conserve biodiversity and preserve the economic and ecological value of forests.
He also cited the EU’s €700 million commitment to the Great Green Wall Initiative, aimed at combating desertification, restoring degraded landscapes and strengthening climate resilience across the Sahel.
For Nigeria, however, one of the most immediate economic implications lies in its agricultural exports.
De Luca said the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) presents both a challenge and an opportunity for Nigeria, particularly its cocoa industry.
He said better forest governance, land-use planning, farm-level traceability and reliable geospatial data would help ensure that Nigerian cocoa production is not associated with deforestation or forest degradation.
Such measures, he noted, could help farmers and businesses maintain access to the European market while encouraging more sustainable agricultural production.
Germany also called for stronger institutions and greater private-sector participation in Nigeria’s forest transition.
The German representative said the private sector could provide the capital, technology, innovation and market access needed to accelerate sustainable land management.
But investors, the representative stressed, would require predictable policies, secure land rights, reliable data, access to finance and appropriate incentives.
The German government also emphasised that environmental protection would only be sustainable if it generated economic opportunities for people living around forests.
Communities, women and young people, it said, must be able to see concrete benefits from forest conservation and restoration.
Germany pledged continued support for Nigerian-led solutions and efforts to attract additional public and private financing for sustainable development.
The FAO brought another dimension to the strategy, warning that Nigeria’s forests cannot be separated from the country’s food and agricultural systems.
In a goodwill message delivered on behalf of FAO Representative in Nigeria and to ECOWAS, Dr Hussein Gadain, the organisation said forests are directly connected to food, water, income and resilience for millions of Nigerians, particularly forest-dependent communities.
FAO welcomed the SNFF’s attempt to combine forest conservation with sustainable land management, climate action, biodiversity protection, investment and livelihoods.
It stressed that agricultural production and forest conservation must be pursued together, advocating sustainable commodity production, deforestation-free supply chains, agroforestry and restoration.
The organisation also called for local communities, women and young people to become active participants in the management and restoration of forest resources.
FAO said it was ready to support Nigeria in developing investment-ready programmes and accessing international environmental and climate financing, including resources available through the Global Environment Facility, Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund.
Despite the broad international support, Lawal acknowledged that the most difficult phase begins after the launch.
He said the SNFF would ultimately be judged by what it delivers on the ground rather than by the quality of the document itself.
The Minister identified clear institutional responsibilities, bankable investment pipelines, mobilised resources, technical capacity, reliable monitoring and accountability as critical to implementation.
He urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies to treat the initiative as a cross-cutting economic and climate priority rather than a forestry programme.
State governments and communities, he added, would be crucial because much of the implementation would occur at the subnational level.
Lawal also called on development partners to move from fragmented, project-based interventions towards coordinated and scalable investment programmes.
The Ministry of Environment, through its Department of Forestry, will strengthen forest monitoring systems to track deforestation, degradation and restoration and support national climate and sustainable development reporting.
With Nigeria now facing the task of turning its targets into projects and financing, the success of the strategy will depend on whether the promised investment can reach communities, whether degraded landscapes can actually be restored and whether sustainable production can become economically attractive.
The launch therefore marks more than the unveiling of another environmental framework. It places Nigeria’s forests at the centre of a broader economic question: whether the country can protect its natural resources while simultaneously creating jobs, securing food systems, attracting investment and keeping its agricultural exports competitive in a changing global market.
Michael Olugbode
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