FG Unveils $1bn Plan To Restore 2m Hectares Forests, Create 1.5m Green Jobs

The Federal Government on Tuesday unveiled a 10-year strategic framework aimed at mobilising about $1 billion in blended finance to restore two million hectares of degraded forests, cut deforestation by 20 per cent and create 1.5 million green jobs across the country.

The initiative, known as the Securing Nigeria’s Forest Future (SNFF) Country Package, also seeks to strengthen climate resilience for more than five million Nigerians while protecting biodiversity, restoring degraded landscapes and promoting sustainable forest-based livelihoods.

Launching the framework in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said the SNFF was more than a policy document, describing it as a national framework for coordinating Nigeria’s forest restoration, biodiversity protection, climate action and investment priorities over the next decade.

Lawal said Nigeria’s forests were under growing pressure from agricultural expansion, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and rapid urbanisation, warning that the country could no longer afford fragmented interventions in managing its forest resources.

He said the new framework, developed under the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership through a government-led, multi-stakeholder process and validated at a national workshop in Abuja in April, was designed to move the country towards coordinated, financed and measurable action.

According to him, achieving the targets would require the Federal Government to work closely with state governments, local communities, private investors, development partners, civil society organisations and financial institutions, stressing that most implementation would take place at the sub-national level.

The minister also called for greater private-sector participation in forest management, saying public resources alone could not finance the scale of intervention required to secure Nigeria’s forest future.

He said the government would strengthen the enabling environment for private investment, blended and carbon finance, while ensuring that investments generated tangible benefits through conservation-linked livelihoods, viable forest value chains and greater participation of women and young people in the green economy.

Lawal further said the Federal Ministry of Environment would strengthen forest monitoring and reporting systems to provide reliable data on forest loss, degradation and restoration, with the information feeding into Nigeria’s climate and sustainable development reporting.

He warned that the success of the SNFF would ultimately be measured not by the quality of the document launched in Abuja but by the results delivered on the ground, including bankable investment pipelines, mobilised resources, stronger technical capacity, measurable restoration and accountability for commitments.

Also speaking, the European Union’s Head of Partnerships, Massimo De Luca, said the protection of Nigeria’s forests could not be separated from agriculture, livelihoods, trade and broader economic development, urging stronger institutions, community participation, sustainable agriculture and responsible land-use practices.

De Luca said the EU had supported conservation initiatives in Nigeria, including efforts around Gashaka Gumti and Cross River National Parks, while its wider investment in the Great Green Wall Initiative had demonstrated its commitment to combating desertification, restoring degraded landscapes and strengthening climate resilience across the Sahel.

He noted that the European Union Deforestation Regulation presented both a challenge and an opportunity for Nigeria, particularly its cocoa industry, as stronger forest governance, land-use planning, farm-level traceability and reliable geospatial data could help Nigerian producers maintain access to the European market.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations also backed the framework, saying Nigeria’s forests were critical not only to environmental protection but also to food security, water security, biodiversity, climate resilience and the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians.

Representing the FAO Representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Dr Hussein Gadain, the organisation said the SNFF provided an opportunity to bring forest conservation and restoration, sustainable land management, climate action, biodiversity protection, investment and livelihoods under one national framework.

FAO said it was ready to support Nigeria in translating the strategy into bankable programmes and coordinated investments, including by helping the country access international environmental and climate financing through mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility, Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund.

The organisation also stressed the need to place women, young people and forest-dependent communities at the centre of implementation, arguing that they should be treated as active partners in forest management, restoration and sustainable utilisation rather than mere beneficiaries.

The launch brought together government officials, development partners, financial institutions, private-sector representatives, civil society organisations, researchers and other stakeholders, with the Federal Government urging them to move swiftly from the launch of the SNFF to coordinated implementation.