Continental Reinsurance donates N11 million for Forest Restoration in Nigeria

…. aims to plant 1 Million trees in 6 African countries through the partnership

Restoring Nigerians forest cover to at least 25 percent by 2047, an ambitious project that started in 2017, has been boosted with the planting of an additional two thousand trees across some selected states of the federation.

The planting of the two thousand additional trees is made possible through a partnership between the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, NCF, and Continental Reinsurance, a Pan African insurer.

Speaking on Friday , 28th June,2024, at the ceremonial tree planting at the Lekki Conservation Center, LCC, Mr. Chukwuemeka Akwiwu,Group Executive Director- Technical Operation of the insurance company described the partnership as the symbol of hope and tangible step towards tackling climate change in Nigeria.

In 2017, NCF kicked-off its Green Recovery Nigeria, GRN, project with the aim of restoring the country’s forest cover to at least 25 percent, which was the situation at independence in 1960.

This is a major step forward to tackling climate change impacts and disasters including desertification, ecosystem degradation, biodiversity extinction, warming , coastal erosion and alteration in weather patterns.

Since it’s inception, several organizations have been in partnership to contribute their quota towards the realization of the project.

Delivering a goodwill message shortly before the planting , Akwiwu said his company is pleased to participate in the ambitious project to see how they would make an impact in conserving and restoring Nigerian Natural environment.

He said, ” For us, it is an honour and a privilege to be here today as we take significant steps in our collective mission to conserve and restore the Nigerian natural environment by participating in the Green Recovery Nigeria project. On behalf of Continental Reinsurance and our Group Managing Director, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Nigerian Conservation Foundation for its excellent work and relentless dedication to environmental preservation”, he said.

“We are unwavering in our commitment to make a positive difference to our environment and we believe that through collective and shared efforts we can create a lasting impact ” he submitted.

Akwiwu believed that through dedicated efforts at increasing the forest reserves and conserving wetlands, they would play a crucial role in combating climate change, restoring ecosystems and securing a sustainable future for generations to come.

According to him, “We are the premier Pan African insurer. We are pleased to support with the initial donation of two thousand trees for now. It is my intention that we should be having this conversation on an annual basis. It is a young relationship we started last year, but since then, we have seen the partnership grow. Part of our commitment is to do advocacy for NCF within our industry.
When NCF participated in our CEO summit, they inspired our audience by showcasing the vital role that it does and demonstrating how companies can support such impactful initiatives” he added.

In an address, the Director General of NCF, Dr. Joseph Onoja appreciated the bold step taken by the company to support the restoration of the country’s environment as he challenged other corporate bodies and well meaning individuals to borrow a leaf from that.

Dr. Onoja who was represented by the foundation’s Director of Business Development and Communications, Mr. Uchenna Achunine explained that the partnership involves helping the company plant 1 million trees in 6 African countries where it has presence , including Nigerian.

He said, “on behalf of the Director General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Dr. Joseph Onoja , who wished to be at this event but is unavoidably absent. He is in Kenya and asked that I represent him.

“I am happy to welcome all of us to Lekki Conservation Center, LCCI , the Headquarters of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation.

“We are here today for a brief but very important ceremony – commemorative tree planting. It is a ceremonial tree planting that we are having this day with one of our very special and critical partners, Continental Reinsurance.

“Continental Reinsurance, though our partnership with them has not been long, but we have become like family, because of how they treated our partnership. The tree planting we are having today is a ceremonial tree planting to kick-start other activities to plant 2000 trees with them this year. These 2000 trees are the first in the line for an ambitious project that we want to drive with them.

“They have an ambitious project of planting One million trees in Africa and they trusted NCF so much that they want us to play a key role in achieving that project”.

On how the partnership was initiated, Dr. Onoja explained thus; “We started doing something with them in April. They invited us to Zimbabwe to come and speak to more than 100 CEOs that participated in the 9th CEO Annual Summit of the organization. A number of organizations picked interest in what NCF is doing.

” We are working out how to play a key role in making sure that that ambitious project is achieved and today we are starting the ceremonial planting to plant 2000 trees to lead how we are going to plant a number of trees in Nigeria and in the other 5 African countries where they have presence”, explained Onoja.

The Camp Manager at LCC, Mr. Stephen Aina supervised the ceremonial planting of some mahogany tree seedlings and other endangered plant species.

Thereafter,the team embarked on sight seeing within the LCC forest reserve, which harbours a whole lot of natural resources including a pond for Japanese fish.

The Continental Reinsurance team had handed over a cheque for 11 million naira to the NCF in support of the tree planting of 2000 trees in Nigeria.