Causes, effects and control strategies 5 deforestation are maintained. However, as the effect of southward movement of the sahara desert is. The major problems include habitat degradation through uncontrolled logging, agricultural projects, industrial plantations, highway and urban development, and exploitation for fuelwood, overhunting and poaching steps taken so far. Introduction the cross river state of nigeria is blessed with natural forest ecosystem where living and nonliving organisms interact with one another.
Associate professor of forest measurements department of forestry and wood technology federal university of. Nigeria approved national forest policy june 14th 2006. Pdf forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the. As of 2005, nigeria has the highest rate of deforestation in the world according to the food and agriculture organization of the united nations fao. The changes in area of forest by region and subregion are shown in table 1. Biodiversity and carbon potentials of a nigerian forest.
The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. Pdf current status of plant diversity and conservation in nigeria. The variation in total forest area over time years, the number of forest offences and annual forest fires was appraised in vandeikya local government vlg area, benue state, nigeria. The total land mass of nigeria is about 910,770 km 2 and among these, the total forest area covers about 110, 890 km 2 this representing about 12. Nigeria is the most populous country in africa and has highly diverse forest ecosystems.
An important milestone in the development of the action plan. Introduction nigeria is a country about the size of the u. Forest has been cleared for logging, timber export, subsistence agriculture and notably the collection of. Therefore, this study examined and assessed tree diversity and abundance in five selected forest reserves in osun state, nigeria with a view to ascertaining the present species status for mitigation decision. Successful baseline inventory of biodiversity successful establishment of small projects through small loans in some project communities. Tree structural and species diversities in okwangwo forest, cross river state, nigeria adeyemi, a. Wwviews on biodiversity on saturday september 15th 2012, thousands of people around the world will take part in a global event. Traditional beliefs and conservation of natural resources. Ethnobotany and biodiversity conservation in the niger. Between 1990 and 2010, nigeria lost an average of 409,650 ha or 2. Popoola 20 stated that nigeria losses 400,000 hectares of forest every year. Preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services in west.
This paper sets out to explore the effectiveness of forest conservation laws in nigeria. It argues that it is ecologically unwise to clearfell reserves of native rain forest and replant them with monoculture tree plantations, especially. A silvicultural approach to volume yield, biodiversity and. Today there is only one specimen of parkia bicolor in southwestern nigeria. The afi river forest reserve is stationed in cross river state.
It also examines plantation forestry as the governments strategy for replenishing the countrys lumber resources. Many of these management actions also contribute to climate change mitigation through. The international dimension of illegal wildlife trade in nigeria. Nigeria institute of social and economic research niser lbadan, nigeria abstracttrees in forested and agricultural landscapes are particularly important because they disproportionately provide high values of environmental services and biodiversity.
Duchelle, 2007 including inter alia, taxonomic richness, genetic differences in each taxon, communities, ecosystems, landscapes within which organisms inhabit and the indigenous knowledge of nature possessed by the natives living on the land kunwar et al. Biomass and land use carbon emissions data for nigeria tree cover threshold is used for defining the tree cover area. Evaluation of forest resources conservation laws in nigeria abere s. Pdf deforestation trends in forest estates of vandeikya. These mangrove forests serve a critical role in regional ecological and landscape composition, and support subsistence gathering practices, and marketbased. This reserve lies between the mbe mountains community forest and afi mountain wildlife sanctuary. Wcs, the w logo, we stand for wildlife, i stand for wildlife, and stand for wildlife are service marks of wildlife conservation society. Forest and biodiversity play important roles in ecosystem services as.
Biodiversity is facing a doctrine of crisis proportions which could ultimately lead to mass extinctions in the very near future9. Nigerias presentday national parks and game reserves were originally forest reserves, first established in the early 1900s. To evolve a model for integrating the costs of biodiversity conservation into accounts. Animals and most people around the world depend on plant species for food, shelter and clothing. The following 118119 biodiversity and tropical forest assessment for niger is the result of shortterm desk research based primarily on readily available materials from the internet and limited interviews with usaid working on initiatives for the west african region. The report identified that the principles for the strategy in the nigerian nbsap could be based on the need to manage the biodiversity of nigeria in the five priority ecological areas of. Department of forestry and wildlife technology, federal university of technology, owerri, nigeria corresponding authors email. About 31% of earths land surface is covered by forests. Human disturbance regimes should mimic natural disturbance. The direct causes of biodiversity loss in nigeria include economic policies, rising demand for forest products, poor law enforcement and weak laws. Thegreypolygonrepresents the 95% confidence interval, whereas red dots give maximum and minimum. This study was primarily designed to assess the conserving biological diversity for sustainable uses in tropical rainforest of nigeria. Deforestation, clearance, clearcutting or clearing is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land which is then converted to a nonforest use.
Introduction the conservation planning tools committee cptc, also known as the biodiversity b. Fostering livelihood security through conservation of. The threats to biodiversity in nigeria were outlined and analysed. The economic and ecological effects of deforestation on. The guinean forest, with an estimated area of 553,427 km2, is also a biodiversity hub. Deforestation and greening the nigerian environment. In this special year, the united nations forum on forests unff and the secretariat of the convention on biological diversity cbd are working together to highlight the. It is a landscape dominated by people, and the population continues to grow about 2. In the period between 2000 and 2005, nigeria lost about 2, 048, and 000 ha of forest fao. Biodiversity in forests, savannah woodlands and coastal mangroves make significant direct contribution to the.
To estimate the full environmental cost of biodiversity conservation in the forest reserves of osun state, nigeria for accounting purposes. Unfortunately, this rich vegetation continues to decline at an alarming rate. Forest reserves in nigeria and their locations legit. Pdf challenges of deforestation in nigeria and the. Many of these management actions also contribute to climate change mitigation through reducing emissions from forests, conserving forest carbon or enhancing forest carbon sinks. While this is the guiding protocol for most reserves across the tropics, such as nigeria, the extent to which they host biodiversity and act as potential stores for carbon are quite uncertain. Pdf mechanism for forest biodiversity protection and. Steering committee, is currently in the process of developing british columbias biodiversity action plan. In addition, some state governments are removing the protected status from forest estates without regard for the environment. According to food and agricultural organization of united nation as of 2005 nigeria has highest deforestation rate in the world at 12. Biodiversity is a concept that involves different facets of biological variety peters, 1991. Six wards were randomly selected from the twelve wards making up the local government. Anambra waxbill, ibadanmalimbe, jos plateau indigobird and the rock firefinch are endemic to the country, making them globally important species for conservation nigeria national biodiversity strategy and action plan nbsap, 2007.
The convention on biological diversity cbd addresses the conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity through a comprehensive programme of work, adopted in 2002 and revised in 2008 see page 39. General management principles and a checklist of strategies to guide forest biodiversity conservation. For example, 75% includes only areas with more than 75% tree cover, whereas 10% includes all areas with more than 10% tree cover. Forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services article pdf available in biodiversity and conservation november 2017 with 1,539 reads how we measure reads. This paper examines the depletion of nigerias natural forest resources consequent upon exploitation without adequate conservation. Indeed some 31 countries do not even make the list because they have already removed most of their forests and even if that remain are seriously fragmented and degraded. Assessment of tree diversity and abundance in selected. It is important to also note that wildlife biodiversity in nigeria appears to increase from the high forest northwards, with the greatest diversity being in the sudan savanna. The tribal communities of urhobos in delta central have a tradition of environmental conservation based on various religious beliefs. Few modern agencies can trace ancestry in a straight line of.
About 65 of 560 species of trees in nigeria forestry are now faced with extinction while many are at different stage of risk 33. The iita campus is a rich center of biodiversity and is one of the few remaining forest reserves in nigeria where valuable and rare indigenous trees, such as the iroko milicia excelsa, are safe from poachers. Forest reserves are expected to host a wide array of biodiversity and provide refuge for rare species that may be threatened in nearby forest landscapes. The project will engage ordinary citizens in as many countries as possible in the process of policymaking and awareness raising to sustain a. Global forest watch map showing forest loss and gain in nigeria between 20012012. The red line shows the average change acrossallcombinations ofgenes,species,ortraits. Nigeria is a biodiversity hotspot with levels of endemism and species richness comparable to anywhere in the world.
Forest reserves are expected to host a wide array of biodiversity and provide refuge for rare species that may be threatened in nearby forest. Pdf nigerian forestry, wildlife and protected areas. Impact of human activities on biodiversity in nigerian. Tropical montane forest biodiversity in nigeria case study of ngel nyaki forest reserve, mambilla plateau nternational journal of environmental sciences, vol. To determine the value of biodiversity loss in the forest reserves of osun state. However, as the effect of southward movement of the sahara desert is progressing. Nigeria forest information and data according to the u. The lowland rain forest provides habitat also for about 200 species of birds fao, 2000. Nigeria secretariat of the convention on biological diversity.
Tropical montane forest biodiversity in nigeria case. Mbadede, mbagbera, mbaakaange, mbaityough, ningev and tsambe. Mechanism for forest biodiversity protection and conservation to enhance food security in benue state, nigeria. A current biodiversity species statistics was given. The government has over the years promulgated laws as regards forest conservation and. Plantation forestry and forest conservation in nigeria. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Biodiversity and carbon potentials of a nigerian forest reserve.
Assessment of environmental impact of deforestation in. Considered one of the most ecologically sensitive regions in the world, the niger delta mangrove forest is situated within a deltaic depositional environment. Studies have shown that forest has undergone different levels of disturbance due to anthropogenic activities which impacted tree diversity, abundance and species composition. The main threats to biodiversity in nigeria chm cbd nigeria. It is a tropical forest in west africa, upper and lower, that cuts across several africa countries from guinea to sierra leone as well as beyond the bor ders of nigeria see table 1 comprising fragmented.
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