Niger State Outlaws Tree Cutting, Launches Green Agency to Battle Climate Change

The Niger State government has imposed a state-wide ban on tree cutting as part of a bold environmental protection plan aimed at combating climate change and halting deforestation.

Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Yakubu Kolo, announced the measure on Tuesday, explaining that the state’s environmental law requires residents to plant at least two to four trees in their homes. He said illegal logging and charcoal production remain major threats, particularly the felling of economic trees like shea butter, which is a key resource for the state.

Just two days earlier, Governor Mohammed Umar Bago inaugurated one of the largest shea butter processing plants in the state, signalling his administration’s commitment to protecting the environment while boosting local industry.

To reinforce this commitment, the government has created the Niger State Agency for Green Initiative, backed by legislation and tasked with coordinating climate-related activities across sectors. This follows last year’s landmark Niger State Green Economy Summit, which produced a climate action blueprint to guide policy.

Kolo disclosed that the government is also establishing Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ), including two in Mokwa and one at the Niger State Airport City, in partnership with China. Funding for these projects has been secured, with the aim of driving agricultural industrialisation while addressing environmental challenges such as flooding.

The commissioner stressed that the ban on tree cutting, the creation of the Green Initiative agency, and the SAPZ projects reflect Governor Bago’s strategy to merge environmental sustainability with economic growth.