Conservationists and environment experts in Nigeria think the rate of deforestation in the country calls for a state of emergency declaration. This reaction follows the revelation that the country loses between 450,000 and 600,000 hectares of forest to deforestation annually to rank among the countries with the highest rate of deforestation in the world.
The National Coordinator, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, Dr Salisu Dahiru, made the shocking revelation in Benin, while delivering the 10th Environmental Outreach Magazine public lecture Last week.
In his talk tittled, “Managing land degradation in Nigeria; the challenges, action and remediation”, Dahiru noted that 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost every year globally, while 7.3 million of hectares of forest are lost yearly globally.
“Nigeria is said to be one of the countries with the highest deforestation rate in the world with about 450,000 to 600,000 hectares of forest lost annually,” he said.
He identified population pressure, deforestation, bush burning, over grazing, agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming, inappropriate irrigation and indiscriminate mining as some the causes of land degradation in Nigeria.
While saying that NEWMAP had succeeded in reclaiming some of the land lost to degradation, he noted that inconsistency in policies, inadequate budgetary allocation and unhealthy rivalry between environmental agencies were affecting management of degradation and deforestation in the country.
Dahiru said policy execution as well as stakeholders’ cooperation was needed in managing land degradation.
Reacting to the revelation on social media, Nigerians called for awareness and proper orientation of citizens on the matter so that individuals can know the roles they can play in preventing further loss.
“Awareness and aggressive sensitization needed on the importance of conserving our forests, they must be,” Bashir Abayomi Ibrahim, tweeted.
“The ministry of environment should do more especially in terms of awareness and enlightening the population,” UMHashim added.