The revelation by Professor Labode Popoola of the University of Ibadan that Nigeria loses 400,000 hectares of forest every year is a cause for great concern. Popoola, a professor of Forest Economics, made the disclosure at the 14th Annual Chief S.L. Edu Memorial Lecture organised by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), where he was a guest lecturer.
The professor, who is also the President of the Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN), had in a paper entitled “Valuing Nigeria’s Forests: Issues and Context” bemoaned the continuous rapid shrinking of Nigeria’s forest cover. The erudite academic also blamed the loss on continuous legal and illegal deforestation, without commensurate efforts on afforestation or reforestation.
He observed that while the world lost 3.3 per cent of its forests between 1990 and 2005, Nigeria lost 21 per cent of its reserves, while its current forest reserves stand at 5.04 of its total land mass of 923,678 square km. The heavy demand for wood for construction and other purposes, he added, encouraged logging and large scale deforestation.
According to conservation experts, deforestation is a process which involves the cutting down of vegetation without any simultaneous replanting for economic or social reasons. It has negative implications for the environment in terms of soil erosion, loss of wildlife and biodiversity ecosystems, and desertification.
An estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forests are lost each year, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). The annual rate of deforestation in Nigeria is 3.5 per cent, approximately 350,000 to 400,000 hectares per year. Nigeria is reported to have the highest deforestation rate in the world.
The government should not treat this timely warning on deforestation in Nigeria with levity. It should, instead, see it as a clarion call to address the problem. It is sad that Nigeria is losing most of its forest cover to unbridled deforestation due to laxity in the enforcement of our conservation laws.
Apart from clearing forests for building and farming purposes, the greatest culprit remains unregulated logging of wood, either for export or local use. Some state governments have been alleged to be tampering with some of the nation’s forest reserves in their domains in flagrant disregard of the laws establishing them.
We call on the Federal and State governments to address the increasing problem of deforestation before more harm is done to the ecosystem. No doubt, the ongoing deforestation poses serious environmental, social and economic challenges that need to be tackled urgently. The government must do something to save the nation from the twin problems of desertification and deforestation. The two portend great danger for Nigeria and its ecosystem.
Government should put in place measures for the sustainable management of our abundant land resources and diverse vegetations. There is the need to discourage people from indiscriminate felling of trees for firewood, exports or domestic use. Government should ensure that kerosene is available at an affordable price in order to dissuade the people from using firewood for cooking. Due to scarcity and high cost of kerosene, many Nigerians, especially those in rural areas, rely on firewood for cooking. The current rate of deforestation, if not controlled, will expose Nigeria to environmental hazards. All tiers of government should work together to stem the tide of deforestation and save our environment.
Tree planting campaigns embarked on by some state governments should be given the attention they deserve. Wherever trees are felled, efforts should be made to plant new ones. That is the only way our forests can be preserved.
Above all, let there be sustained efforts to bring back our forests before more harm is done to the environment. The Great Green Wall project of the erstwhile Goodluck Jonathan administration should be continued.