IITA Forest Center welcomes the community to the first Tree Heritage Park Open Day
IITA Forest Center hosted its inaugural Tree Heritage Park (THP) Open Day recently, bringing together students, researchers, conservationists, and nature lovers for a day dedicated to celebrating Nigeria’s native tree species and strengthening public commitment to environmental stewardship.
IITA Forest Center hosted its inaugural Tree Heritage Park (THP) Open Day recently, bringing together students, researchers, conservationists, and nature lovers for a day dedicated to celebrating Nigeria’s native tree species and strengthening public commitment to environmental stewardship.
The Open Day supports the Center’s continuous mandate to conserve Nigeria’s threatened tree species and upholds the ArbNet Level II accreditation the Park received in January 2022—Nigeria’s first internationally accredited arboretum, the 11th in Africa, and the 500th worldwide.
Located within the 350-hectare IITA Forest Reserve, the five-hectare THP, fondly called the “Noah’s Ark,” hosts more than 100 indigenous species. These include culturally important and endangered trees such as Iroko (Milicia excelsa), African Baobab (Adansonia digitata), African Locust Bean (Parkia biglobosa), and Araba (Ceiba pentandra), where the shy, yellow-billed kite often nests. Many other species in the park were recalled from landscapes affected by urban expansion, illegal logging, storms, and the growing pressures of climate change.
Dr David Ladipo, IITA Forest Center patron, who has contributed to conservation work in the Reserve since the 1990s, introduced the participants to the Park’s evolution through a documentary and a presentation. He emphasized the THP’s significance, noting, “This living gene bank is more than a collection of trees; it is a rescue mission. Many of these species would have disappeared without the decades of deliberate conservation efforts here.”