Nigeria Plans to Conserve Endangered Plants

Nigeria plans to conserve endangered plants

LAGOS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — Nigeria has mapped up a compendium aimed at collecting and conserving endangered plant genetic resources, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported Thursday.

The compendium released by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology said that 400 endangered under-utilized plant species had been identified out of which 29 were prioritized for immediate attention.

“The first phase of the exploration and collection of some of the prioritized plant species has been completed,” it said.

The compendium stated that the plants would be conserved for immediate utilization, agricultural improvement and posterity.

It said that plans to establish a field gene-bank of the endangered priority species had reached advanced stage and was receiving priority attention due to various factors threatening the survival of the species.

The factors, according to it, include deforestation, bush burning and indiscriminate felling of trees.

The project estimated to cost more than 28.9 million naira ( about 217,293 US dollars) in four years was being handled by the National Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria.