• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • Mohammed Idris Malagi, Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation

      FG Reaffirms Non-Interference in ICPC, EFCC Operations

      ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • NUPENG

      NUPENG Suspends Strike After Truce With FG, Labour, Oil Stakeholders

      Customs, Defence Bureau Unveil Airboat for Smuggling War

      Customs Begins Live Operations of Automated Excise Register System

      Still on the “National Single Window” Project By Abdulsalam Mahmud

      Minister of Finance Wale Edun and the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adeniyi decorating OP Olaniyan

      Customs Generates N3.7trn in H1 2025 as FG Targets Enhanced Private…

  • National
    • Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and Nafisa Abdullah Aminu

      Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami

      Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

      Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri…

      NIPR President Ike Neliaku

      NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity

      Ahmed Balarabe Sa'id

      Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

      The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa

      FG to Schools: Get Certified Teachers or Lose WAEC Accreditation

    • Government
      • Bauchi Muslim Parliament

        Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts

        Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and Nafisa Abdullah Aminu

        Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami

        Charlie Kirk

        Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

        Governor Kabir Abba Yusuf and the conjoined twins

        Kano Separated Conjoined Twins Return Home After Successful Surgery in S/Arabia

        Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Kano State

        Kano Government Approves ₦1.1bn for School Uniforms to Tackle Out-of-School Children…

  • Security
    • airforce helicopter

      NAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in Chikun

      Nigerian Troops Eliminate Notorious Bandit Deputy Commander in Kogi

      Police Officer

      Police Arrest 56 Suspects in Coordinated Raids Across FCT

      Military Troops in Action

      Military Eliminates Terrorist Commanders in Yobe, Foil Attacks in Sokoto, Zamfara

      court Judiciary

      Court Okays DSS Request to Accelerate Trial of Al-Barnawi, 4 Other…

  • Features
    • Charlie Kirk

      Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

      Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

      Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri…

      Omoyele Sowore, Bayo Ononuga and Adeola Ajayi

      Sowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS Overreach

      Ahmed Balarabe Sa'id

      Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

      Traffic officials tolling the vehicle at the scene in Abuja

      SPECIAL REPORT: Extortion, Blood and Impunity Behind Abuja’s Agbero Menace

  • State
    • Bauchi Muslim Parliament

      Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts

      airforce helicopter

      NAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in Chikun

      Police Officer

      Police Arrest 56 Suspects in Coordinated Raids Across FCT

      Charlie Kirk

      Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

      Military Troops in Action

      Military Eliminates Terrorist Commanders in Yobe, Foil Attacks in Sokoto, Zamfara

  • Event
    • Prof. Abubakar Mu’azu

      UNIMAID appoints Prof. Mu’azu as Pioneer Dean, Faculty of Communication

      NIPR President Ike Neliaku

      NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity

      Baze University Management visits TETFUND, Showcases Tech-Driven Growth, National Impact

      PHOTOS: BUK Alumni Association Launches Digital Hub to Unite Global Graduates,…

      Founder Image Merchant Promotion Ltd, Yushau Shuaib, Nigeria Customs CG, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the IPRA representative during the 2024 GWA awards in Belgrade, Serbia

      Again, ​IPRA Shortlists Nigeria Customs, IMPR for Golden World Awards, Celebrates…

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Features The Challenge of Deforestation in Nigeria
  • Features

The Challenge of Deforestation in Nigeria

By
Rukayat I. Olanrewaju
-
March 28, 2019

The Challenge of Deforestation in Nigeria

By Rukayat I. Olanrewaju

Nigeria is highly endowed with a lot of biological resources. The nation is one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in the world.

During the pre-independence era, massive forest reservation took place, about 96,518 square kilometres of land representing 27% of the total forest cover and 10% of the total land area was reserved as protected area. 66 percent of the forest reserves lies in the savanna region of the country, 20% falls within the humid tropical forest zones in southern Nigeria and 4% was fresh water swamps and mangroves of the coastal south of the nation.

When we gained our independence and became a sovereign state, we inherited eight (8) national parks, four hundred and forty five (445) forest reserves, twelve (12) strict nature reserves and twenty eight (28) games reserves from the colonial administrators for the protection and conservation of the forest biodiversity in the country.

Unfortunately, the vast area of forests reserved in the 50s are nowhere to be found. This legacy has been greatly destroyed, the protected areas has been deforested, degraded, encroached and converted to other land uses as a result of increased pressure from the rapidly increasing population.

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) reported that Nigeria has lost 96% of its natural forest cover and deforestation rate is at an alarming 11.1% per annum. This prevalent problem of deforestation, fragmentation and land conversion for agricultural purpose and other uses has affected adversely the forest biodiversity in the country.

Although nature is resilient and forests have the ability to recover from negative changes, unfortunately the rate and extent of damage and destruction is more than the forest can offset at a particular time. In recent times, the deleterious effect of our attack on the forest can be seen all over the world.

The frequent disasters experienced in some parts of the world can be traced to climate change, which has been aggravated by the increased emission of greenhouse gases and loss of forest cover all over the world.

The global challenge of climate change and biodiversity loss necessitates the need for sustainable forest management.

Sustainable forest management is simply the utilization of our forest resources in a way that it would be available in perpetuity. Sustainable management of our forest resources has been the objective of both the state and Federal Ministry of Environment, ENGOs and other conservation agencies.

Read Also:

  • Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts
  • Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami
  • NAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in Chikun

The federal government has increased afforestation and reforestation efforts under various projects and programmes to augment natural regeneration processes but the rate of afforestation is not commensurate with the rate of deforestation. This calls for a state of emergency in our forestry sector.
This problem would persist unless the forest stakeholders put all effort to combat this scourge. Sustainable forest management would only be achievable if the institutional framework is put in place.

The forestry policy of 2006 should be reviewed and appropriate laws enacted and the obsolete forest laws reviewed. This will reduce incidence of illegal logging from concession owners, timber contractors and other forest users. Also, there is need for a nationwide comprehensive ecological survey, forest inventory and mapping to provide information on the current status of forest biodiversity in Nigeria to provide a baseline information for forest management planning.

A national forest management plan, with clear objectives for conservation, utilization and sustainable management should be developed and from this, the state forestry department can develop their own site specific forest management plan taking into account the three aspects of sustainable development (social, economic and cultural). More efforts should be put into the sensitization of stakeholders about the importance of trees, tree planting and conservation.

Community forests and private forests establishment should be encouraged to complement government efforts. Private forest plantations will reduce pressure on reserved forest for timber thereby reducing logging in our protected forestlands. Conservation education should be included in school curriculum to teach children about conservation of biodiversity to prevent future reoccurrence of deforestation and forest degradation in our protected forests.

Nigeria’s forestry sector has a great prospect for biodiversity conservation and revenue generation. We have vast land mass and good climatic condition to support diverse vegetation. In spite of the great disservice done to our forest lands, we still have pockets of forest lands that can be reclaimed and developed. With about 20 universities with a forestry department and several colleges of forestry for capacity building we have the needed human resources to reclaim our forestlands, and several community owned sacred grooves with diverse tree species to serve as seed bank, we can put a stop to deforestation and reclaim, develop and conserve our forest resources.

Rukayat I. Olanrewaju
PhD Student on Forestry Management
University of Ibadan
[email protected]

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • The Challenge of Deforestation in Nigeria
Previous articleIgbawua pledges support to NPS
Next articleMoney-Laundering: NFIU Commences Financial Intelligence
Rukayat I. Olanrewaju
Rukayat I. Olanrewaju
http://www.PRNigeria.com

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Charlie Kirk

Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri Idakwo Laruba

Omoyele Sowore, Bayo Ononuga and Adeola Ajayi

Sowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS Overreach

Ahmed Balarabe Sa'id

Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

Traffic officials tolling the vehicle at the scene in Abuja

SPECIAL REPORT: Extortion, Blood and Impunity Behind Abuja’s Agbero Menace

AI for Writing

MUST READ: Why Everyone Should Use AI for Writing, With Pride Without Shame By Abdulsalam Mahmud

Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, and delegation from the United States Institute of Security Governance led by retired Major General Miguel Castellanos,

Nigeria, US to Expand Air-Ground Integration for Safer Counterterrorism Operations

Kaduna-Abuja Railway: An Urgent Call for Improved Maintenance and Security Compliance By Samuel Aruwan

IPRA GWA WINNER Logo 2018

The Human Factor: IPRA President Addresses AI’s Role in PR

Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd)

Marwa, A Man of Uncommon Grace at 72 By Femi Babafemi

PRNigeria logo fearured image

Recollecting a Media Dialogue on Words and Extremism in Abuja

Late Solomon Arase and Ikechukwu Ani

ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night Boss

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Log in to leave a comment

Recent Posts

  • Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts
  • Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami
  • NAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in Chikun
  • Nigerian Troops Eliminate Notorious Bandit Deputy Commander in Kogi
  • Police Arrest 56 Suspects in Coordinated Raids Across FCT
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba's Peace EffortsGlobal Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa PantamiNAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in ChikunNigerian Troops Eliminate Notorious Bandit Deputy Commander in KogiPolice Arrest 56 Suspects in Coordinated Raids Across FCTWho Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-KayodeMilitary Strengthens Counter-Insurgency Drive as PCRC, NSCDC Seek Support in BornoNAHCON staff commend Chairman Over New Postings, PromotionsMilitary Eliminates Terrorist Commanders in Yobe, Foil Attacks in Sokoto, ZamfaraUNIMAID appoints Prof. Mu’azu as Pioneer Dean, Faculty of CommunicationKano Separated Conjoined Twins Return Home After Successful Surgery in S/ArabiaCourt Okays DSS Request to Accelerate Trial of Al-Barnawi, 4 Other TerroristsKano Government Approves ₦1.1bn for School Uniforms to Tackle Out-of-School Children CrisisPolice Chief Tasks Border Patrol Commanders on Enhanced SecurityAir Chief Links Fiscal Discipline to Nigeria’s National Security, Operational Readiness
X whatsapp