Margot Abayomi Memorial Evergreen Foundation has linked Nigeria’s rising food costs and worsening climate change to decades of unchecked environmental destruction.

The foundation also called for urgent government and community action to restore degraded forests.

Dayo Abayomi, a co-founder of the foundation, said this on Thursday in an interview.

The foundation consists of three siblings who are conserving a small forest reserve along the river in Ikoyi-Osun, Osun, called Emerald Forest Reserve.

Ms Abayomi said it was unfortunate that more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s forests had disappeared due to logging without reforestation, thereby harming the environment and people.

According to her, environment and health go hand in hand, and people rely on forests for medicinal plants and other benefits.

She said many wild animals that were once common in the area were at risk of extinction due to hunting and trade for consumption.

She said the foundation collaborated with wildlife-rescue organisations to rescue animals such as pangolins and civet cats, and to release them into their natural habitats.

According to her, the foundation tries to balance treatment with quick reintegration into the forest.

She said they encouraged hunters to become forest rangers on a salary to discourage wildlife killing, adding that extinction would be irreversible.

“As medical doctors, we also support the community through free medical outreach, including consultations, medicines and hospital referrals,” she said.

She expressed concern about the loss of resourceful trees, saying that some trees that had taken 50 to 100 years to mature were being cut down and exported without replacement.

Ms Abayomi said that the foundation was committed to reducing forest destruction, raising awareness about afforestation, and supporting livelihoods for communities that depended on logging for sustainability.

(NAN)