Tree planting, panacea for disaster control —Mimiko

Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, on Wednesday encouraged residents of the state to embrace the habit of planting economic trees as a means of averting natural disasters as well as improving the quality of air, which is already polluted.
Mimiko gave the advice at a tree planting programme organised by the Federal University of Technology, Akure, tagged, ‘FUTA Greening 2013’.
The governor, who was represented on the occasion by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Mr. Olufemi Abosede, noted that apart from guaranteeing food security, planting of trees could reduce ailments among the people.
He said, “Trees remove excess amount of carbon dioxide and air pollutants present in the atmosphere, including sulphur dioxide, ozone and nitrogen oxide.
“Trees, in return, give us oxygen required for respiration for living and also help to improve quality of air in our environment and reduce its pollution.”
According to the governor, trees are also useful in the control of climate by moderating the effects of sun, wind and rain while they also act as windbreaks for homes, thereby helping to save on heating cost.
Apart from this, the governor said trees reduce soil erosion because they bind the soil together through their roots, which would otherwise have been washed away by rainstorms and flood.