IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION IN NIGERIAby | 18-04-2014 08:45 |
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A lot of activities result in the loss of Nigeria's biodiversity, but I am quite concerned about the very saddening impacts of deforestation. According to Wikipedia, deforestation is a process where vegetation is cut down without any simultaneous replanting for economic or social reasons. Deforestation has a lot of adverse effects not only on the environment in the light of loss of wildlife as well as high increase in desertification, but also in terms of erosion and more importantly, the loss of ecosystems' biodiversity. Data taken over 2000 to 2005 revealed that the country had the largest deforestation rates in the world, having lost 55.7% of her major forests. From my observation and personal engagements with people, it may be safe to infer that poverty, greed and the inordinate need to meet basic needs are the major root causes of deforestation activities in Nigeria as many family men have to resort to indiscriminate and quite illegal felling of trees with little or no concern for their environmental consequences and even the yields from government supported deforestation activities do not have prudent management. Due to this, a lot of destruction has been seriously inflicted on Nigeria's land due to deforestation that is now adding up in no small way to an overpowering rate of desertification, fragmentation and depletes the ecosystem by causing death of wildlife, destruction of plant species and soil erosion in many parts of Nigeria especially in the rural communities where agriculture is the main source of people's livelihood. I therefore intend to promote awareness about this environmental issue by working on a school project where students would be educated on this issue and they would then help to pass the information across to their parents, guardians and neighbours and I would visit a few community elders as well as major stakeholders to discuss this with them and see ways to reduce these harmful deforestation activities. |
