As part of the implemention of the national strategy to protect pollinating species threatened with extinction, Nigeria joined the ‘Coalition of the Willing on Pollinators’, a global alliance of like-minded countries for promoting pollinator protection. To affirm this commitment, the nation’s federal officials signed the Declaration of the Coalition of the Willing on 25 July 2019 in Abuja.

By signing the Declaration, Nigeria reaffirmed its commitment to take action to protect pollinators and their habitats by developing and implementing national pollinator strategies consistent with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) thematic assessment on pollinators, pollination and food production; sharing experience and lessons in developing and implementing national pollinator strategies; reaching out to seek collaboration with a broad spectrum of stakeholders; developing research on pollinator conservation; and supporting the collaboration.

Mr Sikiru Tiamiyu, the Deputy Director in the Forestry Department of the Federal Ministry of Environment said: “The project is about pollinators and how it relates to land degradation. The idea behind the project is that, for any crop to yield, there must be pollination.”

During the signing event, participants also reviewed and adopted the Pollinator Friendly Land Degradation Neutrality Country Action Plan, which was the key outcome of the Anglophone Africa Regional Trialogue: Bright Spots for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), Pollinators and Food Security, which was organized by  the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) on 28-30 May 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Regional Trialogue  reviewed the key messages of the two inter-linked thematic assessment reports produced by IPBES on pollinators, pollination and food production and land degradation and restoration and their relevance to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets.

Nigeria becomes the 28th signatory to the Declaration, following Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ethiopia, Ireland, Luxemburg, Mexico, Slovenia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay, BES-Net, Norway, Estonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Morocco and Burundi.

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Please download the Press Statement here: [ENG] [DUTCH]