NALDA Places 20,000-hectare Plantations For Carbon Restoration

The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has set out a carbon roadmap with a structured plan to place more than 20,000 hectares of plantations under robust monitoring, reporting and verification systems.

The roadmap covers the rehabilitation of ageing plantations, the integration of pledged lands and a framework to ensure that local communities derive direct benefits from restored landscapes.

The executive secretary of NALDA, Engr. Cornelius Adebayo, unveiled the roadmap at the just-concluded COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where the agency also formalised a cooperation agreement designed to boost transparency and technical capacity in its carbon programmes.

He said that the development signalled Nigeria’s readiness to participate in credible voluntary carbon markets and to position land restoration and plantation development at the centre of climate response.

He noted that the agency had evolved from its core mandate of developing agricultural land and supporting rural livelihoods into a national driver of landscape restoration, afforestation and sustainable land management.

According to him, NALDA’s plantations across diverse ecological zones now form part of Nigeria’s fastest-growing nature-based climate assets, able to deliver high-integrity carbon removals while strengthening food systems and rural economies.

He said, “Our presence here today is to spotlight these transformational efforts and outline the ambitious NALDA Plantation Carbon Roadmap.

“This roadmap provides a clear pathway for placing over 20,000 hectares of plantations under effective monitoring, reporting and verification, rehabilitating ageing stock, integrating pledged lands, and ensuring that communities receive tangible benefits from every hectare restored. The roadmap also highlights Nigeria’s readiness to participate in high-quality voluntary carbon markets as integrity standards continue to evolve globally.

“One of the flagship projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the Renewed Hope Mega Farm Estate, where NALDA is developing large-scale agricultural settlements ranging between 5,000 and 25,000 hectares.

“Our pioneer estates have begun in Ekiti and Kwara with over 1200, and 1,050 hectares under cultivation. These estates are fully mechanized, equipped with complete infrastructure such as roads, irrigation systems, processing hubs, housing, and energy systems to function as full agricultural settlements.

“As part of their sustainability framework, each estate will receive comprehensive perimeter fencing, along which NALDA will plant thousands of climate-resilient trees capable of generating significant carbon credits over time.

“This ensures that beyond food production and job creation, farmers within these estates can earn additional income from carbon markets, allowing them to transition from low-income status into the middle-income economy.

“This ensures that beyond food production and job creation, farmers within these estates can earn additional income from carbon markets, allowing them to transition from low-income status into the middle-income economy. This Project will, no doubt, create no fewer than 12,000 direct jobs, 30,000 indirect jobs, and lift over 100,000 thousand lives out of poverty,” he said.

Alongside the mega estates, NALDA said it was advancing smaller restoration farms of between 500 and 2,000 hectares targeted at internally displaced persons (IDPs), migrants and refugees.

Adebayo noted that the sites combine land rehabilitation, structured tree planting and climate-smart agricultural practices to provide vulnerable populations with access to land, income opportunities and long-term stability.

The Authority expects the projects to support more than 15,000 displaced persons with tangible economic and environmental gains.

According to the NALDA ES, further plantation efforts were underway in Oyo, Ondo and Osun States, covering 2,000, 1,500 and 3,000 hectares, respectively. These developments form part of NALDA’s Biodiversity Enhancement Programme, alongside another 6,000 hectares of existing cocoa, rubber, cashew and oil palm plantations.

The executive secretary said the sites were located in ecologically sensitive zones where reforestation and species protection could strengthen biodiversity while expanding carbon sequestration.

“We are here to demonstrate the progress Nigeria is making through landscape restoration, agricultural transformation and plantation rehabilitation under the auspices of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority.

“We are ready to engage partners in transparent, credible and community-centred programmes that meet international best practices,” Adebayo stated.