UNESCO-backed Youth Network Trains Ogun Students on Biodiversity Conservation

The newly inaugurated Man and Biosphere (MAB) Youth Network Nigeria has launched a sensitization and training program for students at Plantation High School in Ijebu East, Ogun State. Held within the Omo Biosphere Reserve community, the initiative aims to promote environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation among young Nigerians. The MAB Youth Network operates under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme, with its national secretariat based at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. During the session, MAB Youth Focal Point Miss Lynda Abodunrin emphasized the critical role of youth as custodians of the environment, urging collective action at the community level. Twenty-six students participated in the training, which covered practical methods for protecting and sustainably managing local ecosystems. The school principal, Revd Abiola Osifeso, commended the effort and pledged further collaboration. Organized in partnership with the Nigeria MAB Desk Officer, Prof Tayo Oyelowo, this event marks the beginning of broader conservation advocacy. Network officials indicated plans to extend similar training to other schools in biosphere reserve communities in the coming months, highlighting the ecological importance of the UNESCO-designated Omo Biosphere Reserve.