Environmental experts have revealed that, Nigerians exposed and facing an imminent environmental disaster due to excessive deforestation.
Speaking at at the Final Workshop of Research Project on “Improving Access to Clean and Modern Energy for Cooking while Reducing Land Degradation and Biodiversity Loss in Nigeria” held in Abuja on Monday, they said various studies have highlighted the speed at which the country’s foreat are being depleted.
In his address, the Dean Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Bayero University Kano and Project Lead Nigeria Professor Aliyu Salisu Barau said that, it has been established that, the country lost 17,400Km2 in the last two decades from the year 2000 to 2020.
According to him, they have conducted a study in collaboration with Bayero University Kano (BUK), University of York and University College London.
He said, the research conducted for a little over three years sponsored by The Royal Society covered in two states, Kaduna, Nasarawa and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) covered major deforestation hotspots for wood fuel, Charcoal production and studied how the forests have changed tsince the year 2000.
He said, “Our study has estimated that the forest loss between 2000 and 2020 across the three states stands at 17,400km2 which is approximately five-times the size of Lagos State.
“This finding resonates with the UN estimates that ranks Nigeria among top-3 states with the highest rates of deforestation.
“In the two states and rural and semi urban parts of the FCT, 94.4% of households use fuelwood or charcoal for cooking. Interestingly, 95.8% said they would use cleaner fuels should they be available and affordable.
“The cost of ignoring the local communities is too expensive for the future of this country’s ecological integrity and wellbeing. In the course of this project, we have listened to the people living near forests and their perceptions on conservation is very discouraging.
“For example, in Nasarawa LGA, a respondent rather indifferently told us that if we had come to their place “last Saturday you would have seen about one dozen young and old antelopes that we captured.” These animals are on the IUCN list of threatened species and yet they are recklessly hunted, sold and eaten as bush meat.
“More shocking story came our way in Kaduna State where a respondent claimed that “using a chainsaw we can cut down more than one thousand trees in a day.” These are consequences of ignorance, poor attitude, morality, values, and corruption”.
Professor Barau noted that, it was apparent that, communities lack knowledge and skills to manage scarce resources and are also ignorant of the government policy on environmental safeguards.
He added that, another explicit manifestation of public ignorance we came across in Nasarawa is the belief held by some locals that forests will never disappear.
The research lead further added, “Similarly, our study has found how women are being exploited and short changed in the economics of fuelwood and charcoal production. Charcoal production by women as we observed it along Lafia-Ankwanga Road is a 24-hours nonstop and sleepless hard labour by women.
“In rural areas across the study sites, women spend much time on accessing fuelwood and while cooking they are being exposed to health hazards”.
On his part, the Emir of Nasarawa, who is also a former minister of environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman Jibrin said, Environment has gradually taken center stage in world affairs in the last six decades or more.
He said that, Nigeria is not an exception to the global trend because every part of the country is facing environmental issues or challenges.
He therefore advised that, everybody must be involved in utilising available materials for producing and utilising clean energy.
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