Adebayo Obajemu
According to the Global Forest Watch, Nigeria has lost 1.14 million hectares of tree between 2001 and 2021 in a span of 20 years. During this period, about 587 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted, which was equivalent to a 11% decrease in tree cover since 2000 and equal to 587 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, according to Global Forest Watch, a platform that provides data and monitors forests.
Logging which has become common place in Nigeria is putting pressure on Nigeria’s natural forests.
President Muhammadu Buhari told a COP15 meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on May 9 that Nigeria had established a national forestry trust fund to help regenerate the country’s forests. That may not be enough as the country loses forests at a faster pace.
“Protecting the forest means protecting ourselves. When we destroy the forest, we destroy humanity,” said Femi Obadun, director of forest management for Ondo state’s agriculture ministry.
Anjorin Adetogun, a doctoral student of forestry told Business Hallmark that ” government needs to do more to protect our environment. When we kill the environment, we are indirectly killing the ecosystem that feeds us.