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Desertification springs deforestation is a major problem in the country especially in the north and requires urgent attention of the regulatory authorities.The article below sheds light on its growing trends, and general impact in the land including the geographical and environmental ecosystem potentials of the country .
The terrifying growth rate of modern economy has reached a
breath taking pace as human and commercial activities ‘spiral takes on a new
life on its own ,even beyond the control of human arts itself - its immediate
inventor .It has taken a new dimension entirely in this volatile modern age as
well as relentlessly competing against
the very environment that underpins its
growth and human existence .Nevertheless
, this positive development has not come without its side effect ,fiercely
competitive ,exerting undue pressure on the hapless environment ,gullible with
ominous , fast encroaching menace , ill bred
protrusive velocity and mired with negative implications that could
declare entire race of mankind an ‘’
endangered species’’ even
before our very eyes, it is
becoming a near possibility.The environment basically as referred to as’’ life support system’’ by
climate change scientists and environmental right activists is
being overstressed and major implications such as deforestation and
desertification seem to get out of hand ,coasting home nebula and turning what
was once a country of beautiful plains and rich natural ecosystem into suburbs and enclave of plain desert land
.
However,it is not for nothing that in 2005 according to Food
and Agriculture Organisation-FAO ,that Nigeria has the highest rate of
deforestation in the world .That between 2000 and 2005 ,approximately 55.7
percent of the country ‘s primary forest
have been lost and the rate of forest change ballooned by between 31.2percent
and 31.12 percent respectively .On the
other hand ,the main causes of this fast growing threat to human life .can be
narrowed down to several factors such as poor government policy ,poor and
insensitive regulatory regime,poorly performing public institutions ,public
penury or mass poverty respectively .
The increasing rate of logging, timber export , and
proliferation of unsustainable subsistence farming in addition to collection of
wood for fuel can be noted to constitute
a pathetic thorn in the flesh of a
wobbling economy fueling ecological threat against mankind in general .This
boils down to the fact without a
sensitive policy and regulatory regime articulated by sensitive government and efficient public institutions ,it could
be difficult to avert and a peril that could render a nation bankrupt
,unleashing its terror of public penury as people clamour for survival.
Between 1990 and 2000,the nation lost over 409,700,000 hectares of forest on the average per annum . This is
based on the average of 2.38 percent
deforestation rate during the period
under review .And between 1990 and 2005 ,it lost an aggregate of 35.7 percent
of its forest cover equal to 6.145,000
hectares of rich ecosystem .In 2005 , about 12.2 percent ,the equivalent of
11,089,000 hectares were deforested .The truth is:when you cut down
vegetation for no obvious reasons be it
economic ,social and without any replanting
or immediate reforestation plan ,what is perpetrated popularly known as deforestation is on its own a crime against
humanity .With dire implication for
human survival and the legion effect that it has on the human environment such as decline of biodiversity systems ,Soil
erosion ,growth of desertification and above all global warming , there is no
need to gainsay the fact it is the worst
threat to our dear existence under sun .
Consequently ,the quality of life index and general standard
of living perpetually declines .Why would a country that is located in the
western hemisphere of Africa lost a whooping 55.7 percent of its
first tier primary forest in five years
? Little wonder ,according to one medical Doctor ,over 64 million Nigerians
suffer from at least one form of
mental disorder or the other and this
cannot be eschewed from the fact that public penury can lead a person to
depression from frustration and then spiral
of mental disorder .As long as people are poor and with the will to survive in a country that cared
less for them ,this trend would continue .So ,it may mean that in less than two
decades , the entire geographical landscape that we live today would soon be
totally deforested and heavily
desertified .There are so many parlous but reliable indices that show that this
country cannot survive and not even an irrational element like a toddler could
deny this fact laid bare before our very eyes .
Primary forest according to Mongabay is defined as :’’
forests with no visible signs of past or
present human
activities’’(Wikipedia].According food and agriculture Organisation-FAO ,the
standard annual deforestation rate is 3.5 percent , translates to 350,000 hectares to 400,000 hectares .The study also lists solution,resolution
tips and requirement for sustainable
forest management and this includes
legal ,institutional and policy
framework , extent of forest resources ,forest health vitality and socioeconomic functions This secondary tips can be possible and well implemented for the umpteenth time only by moral absorption of the earlier noted primary
factors .and can go along way to help stimulate the integrity of the
human persons and political entities ,holding ace as verve against this
bankruptcy of moral sanity and acatalectic animosity against nature –their very
immediate life support system
,struggling for survival .
Of course ,we know is a proven fact that as deforestation
protrudes its momentum , desertification in like manner ,also escalates
its terrifying proportion fully visible
and manifested in a fast encroaching deserts –a degeneration of once a fertile land ,fueling growth in temperature .Another
study conducted also shows that while
global mean or average increase in
temperature stood at only 0.74 degree
Celsius recorded between 1990 t0 2005 ,the average but equivalent increase in
the country stood at 1.1 degree Celsius centigrade .The amount of rainfall during the same period also declined by 81 mm
with both trends experiencing
simultaneous cumulative sharp
changes in the 1970s .
Nigeria is known to have 1,417 proven species of fauna and
about 4,715 species of vascular plants according to World Conservation
Monitoring Group .Inspite of increase in the population of national parks and
game reserves ,only 36 percent according to Wikipedia under IUCN Categories
I-V, is protected .Similarly ,only very
concrete steps have been taken to curb alarming increase of illegal logging and fast encroaching nature of deforestation
.And hardly no conservation or no education of such is undertaken to curb the menace to cut across the
demography and communities steep in absolute ignorance about the optimal value
of the natural capital assets
significance to mankind .This number increases by the day of those not aware of
what to do or how to adequately manage
the finite resources and Little wonder
why the degenerative spiral had persisted for decades .Moreso ,as no
attempt has been made by successive
governments and state department of forestry
to implement forest management policies since 1970s.
Given the fact that 90 percent of Nigerian population depends or rely heavily on kerosene as most
common and main source of energy for cooking and due to its expensive nature
and not easily available ,this ecological threat would continue as people turn
to alternatives such as wood.And so due
to its scarcity and unavailability ,60 percent turn to felling of
forest woods and trees for fuel wood for the purpose of human survival .This
is responsible for the alarming rate of the increase most especially commonly found in the
rural areas where 70 percent of the
people live.Fueled by public penury , and massively exploited as a source of
income and trade for survival ,worsened by neglect of these noted factors ,in both primary and secondary items ,there is no
doubt the threat has come to stay .
AS the decline in forest cover persists , the nation’s remainder of rich diverse
ecosystem is likely going extinct in foreseeable years ahead .This
includes 899 species of , 274 mammals ,
53 Amphibians ,154 reptiles and 4 , 715 species as potential endangered species
could soon be wipe out in a clime smitten with low morale and exacerbated by
declining rainfall and rise in turgid temperature . Unless robust forest management
policy is adopted by the current administration, to avert thirty five years policy gap ,the threat of extinction and global warming cannot be disputed .Already
,Gorillas in Cross Rivers ,are reported
to be threatened by shrinking population
down to around 300 individuals according to a source ,gullible to human
poaching and mass habitat destruction .
In this context ,the snowball of land grabbing
and land conflicts on the increase cannot be exonerated ,aggravated by
deforestation and desertification .The rise in climate change in the Niger
Delta ,campaign of human and environmental right activism popularized by Isaac
Adaka Boro, and likes of Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 9 murdered by Abacha
regime in the 90s and many more , has put on the front burner ,the need for a sensitive policy ,sensitive
administration , efficient public institutions and above all responsible
leadership and followership to thrive in
a sensitive clime . 
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