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Lafarge Africa partners on Ogun State Forest Landscape Restoration Project

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World Cement,


A new partnership has been formed in Nigeria between the Ogun State Government, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and Lafarge Africa Plc, who will together develop the Ogun State Forest Landscape Restoration Project. The memorandum of understanding will enable the creation of a legal entity to develop the project, which is set to transform 108 000 hectares of heavily degraded land into an arable green area. The scheme will combine business development objectives with land restoration by applying the latest findings of agro-ecology and agroforestry.

In the first stage, part of the area will be rehabilitated through mixed reforestation, which will provide biodiversity hotspot corridors, allowing nomadic herders to cross the area and encouraging subsistent faming. The remaining land will be leased to agro-industrial investors interested in the development of large-scale tree crops as well as annual crops. Forestry projects may also be considered, but these would have to abide by strict social and environmental guidelines.

“Our strong commitment to the environment and social sustainability of our operations and the communities within which we operate leads us naturally to support the Ogun State project that promises strong positive impact on these issues, particularly on climate change. The use of agro-ecology and agro-forestry principles in these project will increase their productivity, ensuring the land becomes one of Nigeria's best carbon capture areas and generating biomass waste that Lafarge intends to use to fire its cement kilns,” said Peter Hoddinott, Group Managing Director/CEO Lafarge Africa.

The Ogun State Forest Landscape Restoration Project is a pioneering initiative demonstrating how a private group can join forces with proactive public entities to launch sustainable projects and will position Nigeria as an African leader to launch sustainable Climate Change PPP projects.


Adapted from press release by

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/africa-middle-east/23092015/lafarge-africa-partners-on-ogun-state-forest-landscape-restoration-project-644/

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