ANNEX VIII: COUNTRY REPORT (Cont.)
Nigeria has a total land area of about 924 000 square kilometres. It lies between latitude 4o15'N (Southern tip of the Niger, Delta, on the Atlantic) and 130 55'N (North Western frontier with Niger) and between longitudes 20 45'E (Southern frontier with Benin) and 14o 40'E (Southern frontier with Cameroon).
The Federal Republic of Nigeria emerged from Military rule to a democratically elected Government on May 29, 1999. It comprises of 36 States and a Federal Capital Territory. The current population is estimated as roughly 110 million, with a per capita income less than US $ 400 or N40 000 per annum. Rural income is considerably lower.
For over two decades the Nigerian economy has been dominated by the oil sector which took over from agriculture since the 1970s as the principal contributor to GDP. Since the 1980's though, the agricultural sector has experienced some measure of growth in production. This rose from N30 billion in 1985 to N35 billion in 1990 at 1984 constant prices. At present, the sector accounts for only 30% of total GDP and employs 2/3 of total labour force. Agriculture is a major source of domestic raw materials and of exportables. The forestry subsector which had hitherto been under the agricultural sector but now transferred to the Ministry of Environment, contributes 2% of GDP and about 8% of value added in agriculture. It provides employment for some 1.5 to 2 million people, mostly part-time.
The national economic development objectives are to:
to diversify the productive base of the country;
to expand non-oil agriculture based exports;
to attain national self efficiency in food and industrial raw materials;
to improve the socio-economic well-being and welfare of Nigerians;
to promote industrialisation through focus on industries that can contribute directly and materially to national economic growth and development.
As a conscious effort to actualizing the above national objectives, the Government has concluded an Economic Summit to discuss future ways and means of actualizing the economic objective. In addition, various programmes to improve the battered Nigerian economy have been launched. These include, national rebirth, poverty alleviation, food security, rural farmers empowerment, human rights restoration, universal basic education, national immunisation, job creation etc. The public service has been re-organised and six new Ministries have been created including the Ministry of Environment to which Forestry has been transferred.
In Nigeria, forestry plays a crucial role as an important source of re-investable capital and a source of income. It provides a foundation for industrialisation and serves to stabilize the rural populations. It also provides a safeguard for agriculture, habitat for wildlife and improves environmental quality. Regrettably, one of the main problems facing the forestry sector in Nigeria is deforestation resulting from population pressures, caused primarily by expanding agriculture, pastoralism and fuelwood extraction. This has resulted in the impoverisation of forest resources with Nigeria becoming a net importer of forest products. Though export of wood used to be a very important trade component in Nigeria, it had been banned since 1976. At present, however, limited exportation is allowed for plantation grown wood, furniture components and semi processed wood.
Deforestation in Nigeria has caused severe environmental problems. Recent findings in this direction reveal the following:
arid zone extended from latitude 12oN to 11oN;
Lake Chad receded beyond Nigeria borders;
serious erosion, (viz.: wind, gully and coastal);
desertification on the increase;
poaching, illegal felling and other encroachment on the forest estate.
However, the National Agricultural Policy, of which the forest policy is a sub-section as enunciated in 1988, provides for increasing the forest estate from 10% to 20% to alleviate the problems but this has been so far strictly unrealisable.
The country supports a wide range of vegetation which includes the rain forest, in the south, derived Savannah, Sudan and Sahel Savannah in the north of the country. The vegetation of Nigeria is largely determined by climatic, edaphic and human factors. The large human population compounded by poor land use practices has profoundly altered the natural vegetation and at present, more than 4/5 of the land is Savannah, the rest being forest plantations and disturbed forests. Table 1 shows the trend in area change (vegetation and land use between 1986 and 1995).
Table 1: Nigeria vegetation and land use trend (ha)
Land use |
1986 |
1995 |
Agriculture (Intensive/Extensive) Floodplain Agriculture Grass Land` Dominantly trees/woodlands/shrubs Dominantly shrubs and grasses Dominantly grasses Forest Freshwater marsh/swamp Forested freshwater swamp Mangrove forest Water Bare surface Total |
50 900 900 1 880 000 1 860 000 15 400 000 13 200 000 1 790 000 2 900 000 1 430 000 2 200 000 1 170 000 520 000 394 000 93 644 000 |
61 900 000 2 400 000 150 000 9 000 000 7 100 000 1 100 000 2 650 000 620 000 1 800 000 1 190 000 680 000 1 892 000 93 482 000 |
Sources: FDF (1998): The Assessment of Vegetation and Land Use Changes in Nigeria. Geomatics International. EMP Nigeria.
In order to prevent the total depletion of Nigeria's forest resources, the Government of Nigeria has set aside 96 000 km2 of forest, about 10% of Nigeria's total land area as forest reserves. Of these reserves which are held in trust for the Local Communities by the State Governments, about 76 000 km2 are located in the savannah zone and 20 000 km2 in the High Forest Zone. The Savannah forests produce fuelwood and poles mainly while the High Forest Zone is the major supplier of saw logs. A recent Forest Resources Study carried by Federal Department of Forestry reveals that the forest estate of Nigeria has been very highly depleted. It is estimated that only about 974 674 hectares of the forest reserves is productive forest while another 2 342 147 hectares of free areas (areas outside the Forest Reserves) is partially productive. The total growing stock in terms of timber volumes is as shown in table 2.
Table 2: High forest cross timber volumes (excluding bark) by forest designation and forest types
Forest Land Designated |
Forest Type |
Area (ha) |
Gross Volume (m3) |
Forest Reserve |
Lowland Rainforest |
788 053 |
140 682 489.73 |
|
Freshwater swamp |
186 621 |
24 397 003.35 |
Sub-total |
974 674 |
165 079 493.08 | |
Free Area |
Lowland Rainforest |
905 930 |
120 742 644.93 |
|
Freshwater swamp |
1 424 995 |
187 474 508.28 |
|
Mangrove |
948 430 |
212 613.14 |
Sub-total |
2 342140 |
308 429 366.35 | |
Gross Total |
3 316 821 |
473 509 259.43 |
Source: FDF (1998): Forest Resources Study Nigeria
In view of this dismal trend in the forests resources of the country, the need to manage the forests of Nigeria on a sustained yield basis has never been more felt than in recent times. The growth rate of the natural forest is quite low; about 1.0m3 to 1.5m3 of round wood per hectare per annum. Our current level of forest exploitation exceeds this level of annual renewal and this is fraught with environmental problems. In spite of this, afforestation has not responded with the required vigour as the area under forest plantation of all types by 1998 was only 184 611 ha. with a growing stock of 78 600 160 m3. To stem this problem, the immediate priorities of Government therefore include:
Conservation and protection of the environment viz. soil, water, flora, fauna and the protection of the forest from fires, cattle grazes and illegal encroachment.
Consolidation and expansion of the forest estate in Nigeria and its management for sustained yield.
Sustainable forest development through accelerated forest regeneration, encouragement of private sector involvement in afforestation.
forestry industry development through the reduction of waste in harvesting and utilisation of timber and its derivatives and the introduction and promotion of alternative sources of energy other than wood.
Wildlife conservation, management and development through the creation and effective management of national parks, game reserves, tourist and recreational facilities.
FOREST PRODUCTS PRODUCTION, TRADE AND CONSUMPTION
Any discussion of forest products production in Nigeria will of necessity start with the formal wood based industry which is fairly well developed and comprise mechanical wood industries, including saw milling, veneer, particle board and plywood manufacturing.
In addition the secondary wood processing involves furniture manufacturing. The forest industries in Nigeria is mostly in the hands of the private sector though there are three pulp and paper mills owned by the public sector. However there is an informal wood-based sector which is the country's largest user of wood. The most prevalent non-industrial uses of wood by the informal sector include fuelwood, poles, posts and planks from chain saws.
Industrial round wood is produced mainly from the high forest zones of Nigeria located in the southern states. Harvesting of industrial woods is carried out by mill operators, by independent registered loggers and by poachers. The mill operators are generally awarded five or twenty- year concessions by the States and they either operate directly or subcontract to independent loggers. Illegal felling of logs remains a serious problem. The States are the custodians of the forest reserves and records of exploitation are either not kept or are very disjointed. In 1992 about 7 868 000 m3 of industrial round wood was produced and it is estimated that this would have almost doubled to 15 595 000 m3 by 1997. There is a general shortage of red wood and face veneers. The recent forest resource study puts the volume of industrial wood in 1998 at 268.7 million m3 for all forest types.
The sawmill industry in Nigeria has an estimated capacity of approximately 12.0 million m3/year in log equivalent though only 40% of this capacity is actually used. Close to 1 600 sawmills operate with one to three CD horizontal band saw units, with some 100 portable sawmills using circular saws and guides. In addition, there are over 1 000 units practising a modernized version of pit sawing using chain saws. The estimated total output of sawnwood by the industry in 1993 was put at 2.7 million m3. This was expected to have increased marginally to 2.73 million m3 by 1997. Most of the production occurs in the coastal States and Cross River State.
The major challenge facing the industry is that it lacks the capacity to process small diameter logs from forest plantations. Plantation wood will become more important as the large diameter trees become increasing scarce. At present the recovery rate of the sawmills is put at less than 53%; about 47% precisely.
The major immediate problems facing the sawmill industry include:
old equipment and severe shortage of spare parts,
frequent disruption of electricity supply,
a timber supply declining in volume, size of logs and quality,
illegal felling and insecurity of tenure with respect to timber concessions.
There are eight Veneer and Plywood plants in the country using approximately 170 000m3 of logs per annum. Veneer slicing operations are all integrated within plywood mills. Plywood requirements for the country were estimated at 179 000 m3 in 1990 and this was expected to increase to 285 000 m3 in 2000 and 453 000 m3 in 2010. At the same time, wood availability is expected to decrease from 170 000 m3 in 1990 to an expected 119 000 m3 in 2010. It is evident that demand for veneer logs outstrips supply. The total capacity of the eight mills is 126 000 m3/year and capacity utilisation by 1993 was 57.3%. Production in 1992 was 72 240 m3 and this was expected to have risen to about 89 920 m3 by 1997 (Annex 1) Veneer mills are already experiencing difficulties in acquiring log supplies.
Particle board requirements for the country are estimated at 108 000 m3 in 1990, 199 000 m3 in 2000. Existing capacity is estimated at 70 000 m3 comprising four mills. Production in 1993 was approximately 39 500 m3 which is 44% of capacity utilisation. Production should have reached 48 200 m3 in 1997. Current production is hampered by the high cost of foreign exchange for new equipment, spare parts and glue acquisition. The particle board production lines in Nigeria are integrated with sawmills and plywood mills, the residues of which they recycle.
These products have been the largest traditional forest products import in Nigeria. In the peak years of 1980-81, over 160 000 mt. were imported which represented nearly 95% of total consumption of printing and writing papers as well as craft paper and board at that time. Today importation is still relatively high as 45 000 mt. of printing and writing paper alone was imported into the country in 1994. The two pulp and paper mills operating in Nigeria are the Nigerian Paper Mill Limited (NPM) at Jebba with a pulp capacity of 32 000 mt./year and a paper capacity of 70 000 mt./year, and the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company (NNMC) at Oku Iboku. This mill has a pulp capacity of 70 000 mt./year and a newsprint capacity of 100 000 mt./year. However, a third mill, Nigerian National Paper Manufacturing Company (NNPM) at Iwopin with a capacity of 100 000 mt./year of pulp and writing paper is only partially completed and barely operating on imported pulp. In 1990 the total domestic production of paper was 50,579 mt. which declined to barely 11 000 tons in 1993 due to long fibre shortages which constrained domestic production. There are in addition, eight operative small size tissue-paper mills with a capacity of around 40 mt./day. The total existing paper capacity in the country is estimated at 50 000 mt./year for both newsprint, printing and writing paper and 70 000 mt./year for other papers.
Table 3: Estimated production of forest products (1 000m3)
|
Year |
Industrial Round w. |
Sawlog and Veneer logs |
Sawn- Wood |
Plywood Veneer |
Particle board |
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 |
7 868 9 314 10 804 12 334 13 914 15 595 |
5 589 6 553 7 547 8 567 9 620 10 707 |
2 706 2 711 2 716 2 721 2 726 2 731 |
72.24 75.57 79.00 82.52 86.16 89.92 |
39.5 41.1 42.8 44.5 46.3 48.2 |
Source: R. O. Aruofor (1998); Estimated, basis available data in 1992/93 and marginal consumption of population.
The predominantly rural population depend mainly on fuelwood to meet basic energy needs for cooking and heating. Recent studies revealed that Nigeria produces about 1 million tons of charcoal annually of which 80% is consumed in the cities. Fuelwood and charcoal account for about 50% of the national primary energy consumption. Fuelwood is demanded by both household and industrial sectors in all the ecological zones of the country. It is estimated that about 90% of the rural households in Southern Nigeria and up-to 98% in the Northern Nigeria depend on fuelwood as their source of domestic energy. Industrial uses include those by institutions, food and craft industries. Fuelwood is very important in local restaurant, bakeries, local breweries, pottery, blacksmith and burnt brick factories. Institutions such as hospitals, prisons and schools also demand fuelwood for cooking. The per capita consumption of fuelwood in rural areas is 393.43 kg/annum while the urban households consume 255.75 kg per annum.
Non timber forest products (NTFP)
These are all other biological materials other than roundwood and derived sawn timber, wood chips, wood-based panels and pulp, that may be extracted from forest ecosystems and are utilized within household or are marketed or have social, religious and cultural significance. The list of non timber forest products in Nigeria is in-exhaustive and include such broad classes as leaves, fruits, barks, nuts, resins, honey, mushrooms, wildlife, cane, chewing sticks, medicinal plants to mention a few. The collection, processing and marketing of these products is done informally by members of the family in various communities. They constitute a major source of household income in Nigeria. Studies carried out by the Federal Department of Forestry revealed that the estimated annual income accruing to these products is about N177,63 billion on a conservative note. The Department of Forestry is placing emphasis on non-timber forestry products as part of a national campaign to mobilize the public. Such programmes include, Rural and Communal Forestry, Bee Keeping, Indigenous Forest Fruit Trees Production, Fruit Orchards establishments and Wildlife Multiplication and Domestication.
The wildlife of Nigeria is particularly varied because of the country's location, size and the ecological zones. The lowland Rain Forest Ecological Zone is the richest zone in Nigeria in terms of biodiversity and the most valuable forest resources. There are about 129 large mammals species in the rainforest and include African Elephants (Laxodonta africana), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). Other large species include the large duikers (for example, caphabphus niger) the Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), and the red river-hog (Potanochoerus porcus). In the savannahs, they include the hartebeest (Alcephalus busephelus) and warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus). In areas of derived savannah, forest species such as elephants and Chimpanzees may be observed foraging on food crops adjacent to the forest.
There are also a wide variety of small mammals including the grass cutter (Thryonomys swinderiannas), giant rats (Cricetomys spp.), tree squirrels (Fun isciurus spp.) and a range of primates. Indeed there are 123 species in the guinea savannahs while 35 species of bats, 23 species of rodents and 20 species of carnivores among others are represented in the country. The lowland rain forest zone also provides habitat for about 200 species of birds. The effect of population pressures on these wildlife is very profound as they are indiscriminately hunted for food and trophy. Over 22 species are on the endangered list of animals in Nigeria.
The main problems facing wildlife conservation in Nigeria include poaching, over exploitation, lack of accurate data, bush burning which destroys wildlife habitat especially in the savannah, overgrazing, poor funding of management and research and low managerial capability. The Federal Government has responded with the creation of 8 National Parks distributed across the major ecological zones viz:
National Park |
Area (ha.) |
Year |
Chad Basin |
45 696 |
1991 |
Cross River |
422 688 |
1991 |
Gashaka/Gumti |
636 300 |
1991 |
Kainji Lake |
534 082 |
1975 |
Old Oyo |
251 230 |
1991 |
Yankari |
224 400 |
1991 |
Kamuku |
112 700 |
1999 |
Okomu |
11 200 |
1999 |
Total |
2 238 296 |
Thus the Local Governments in Nigeria are responsible for the administration of communal Forest Areas (CFA), the State Governments control and manage Forest Reserves, Game Reserves and Game Sanctuaries. The Federal Government under the exclusion legislation list, is responsible for the control, protection and management of National Parks. There are about 1 129 forest reserves, 29 game reserves, 4 game sanctuaries and 8 National Parks.
FORESTRY POLICY, LEGISLATION AND INSTITUTIONS
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (FMA & RD) had hitherto played a very important role in land use planning and forestry development through the Federal Department of Forestry which was one of its departments until recently. The Federal Ministry of Environment has been created and the Federal Department of Forestry has now been transferred to this new Ministry as a Presidential directive. The FMA & RD operates through several Departments whose activities are coordinated at the National Council on Agriculture (NCA). The National Council on Agriculture (NCA) is the highest agricultural policy formulating organ in the country and is chaired by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture. At Forestry level however, the National Forestry Development Committee (NFDC) is the highest organ and is responsible for policy initiation and coordination in the forestry sector of Nigeria. The membership comprise the Federal Director of Forestry who is the Chairman, the State Directors of Forestry and Heads of Research Organisations in both Government and Universities with Forestry Departments. The Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN) is the forum where forestry professionals and practitioner both in the public and private sector all over the country meet yearly to discuss forestry issues.
The Federal Department of Forestry
The Federal Department of Forestry (FDF) was created in 1970 and coordinates forestry activities throughout the country. Its functions are to initiate and formulate national forest policy and land use planning foster forestry and environmental development, promote and fund projects of national interest, coordinate and monitor State Forestry activities of Federal - foreign - funded projects and institutional development. Specifically, the main functions of FDF include:
Advising the Federal Government on forestry development as well as liasing with the States' forestry services of the country.
Ensuring the application of sound and efficient management of the forest and wildlife resources for sustainable production of goods and services throughout the country.
Coordination of all matters pertaining to conservation, protection, environmental improvement, utilisation and renewal of the forest and wildlife resources of Nigeria.
Coordinating Nigerian collaboration with International Organisations.
Disseminating technical and professional information and organizing national and international technical assistance.
Directing the formulation of National Forestry Policy.
Promoting and enhancing the development of forestry management capability in Nigeria.
Providing extension and advisory services to the States for the improvement and promotion of forestry ideals.
Assisting to monitor, evaluate and appraise forestry projects throughout the country.
The Department operates 3 tiers of administration, at the Headquarters, Zonal Office and State-based Field Office level. In order to facilitate the execution of the programmes of the Department as enunciated in the National Forestry Policy, the Department is structured along the line stipulated by the defunct Civil Service Reform Guidelines of 1988. Six professional Divisions were approved for the Department namely: Forestry Management, Forest Products Utilisation, Wildlife Conservation, Forest Resources Conservation, Forest Resources Survey and Extension and Training.
The Forest Management Division deals with internal, that is, ad-hoc departmental planning, coordinates field activities and oversees orderly development and execution of departmental projects. The Forest Products Utilisation Division is broadly concerned with ensuring and promoting improved and efficient use of wood products and non-wood products. The Wildlife Management Division deals with the promotion, creation and development of National Parks, Wildlife sanctuaries, tourism and recreational resources. National Parks have been seeded to the National Parks Board. The Forest Conservation Division deals with forest land conservation including drought and desertification control and several forest degradation problems. The Forest Resources Survey Division deals with forest inventories and the development and management of forestry data bank. The Extension and Training Division carries out forestry extension and supervises manpower development.
In order to facilitate field operations under forest projects either by the Department or in collaboration with the State Forestry Services, a field office exist in all the 36 States including the FCT. The field offices liase with the State Forestry Services on behalf of the Department and ensure judicious use of funds and other inputs for the successful implementation of departmental programmes. In order to further facilitate communication between headquarters and the field officers, six zones were created, each comprising a number of group of the State field offices. The Zonal Officers coordinate the activities of the various field offices under them and ensure speedy communication between the field and headquarters.
FDF has a specialized unit, Forestry Management, Evaluation and Coordinating Unit (FORMECU) that is linked to the Management Division of the Department. It has a Regional Office, Afforestation Coordinating Unit (APCU) in Kano. FORMECU was created in response to a need for implementation of World Bank Assisted Forestry Project in Nigeria but now it virtually coordinates all Federal foreign assisted forestry projects in Nigeria most of which have now terminated.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria consists of 36 States and Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Each of the States and the FCT has an established forestry services as a division under the appropriate Ministry. Each State Forest Service (SFS) is responsible for setting and administering policies for its forests. Each SFS Department is headed by a Director reporting to the Permanent Secretary who himself report to the Commissioner who is the Chief Executive of the State Ministry of Agriculture.
There are several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community Based Organization (CBOs) which contribute to the elaboration of the general land use plan and the sustainable management of forestry resources. Amongst some of the notable ones are Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN), National Environmental Study Team (NEST) etc.
Nigeria is at present a wood deficit nation. In order to ameliorate the situation, the policy on forest resources management and sustainable use is aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in all aspects of forest production through the use of sound forest management techniques as well as the mobilisation of human and material resources. The overall objectives of forestry policy are to prevent further deforestation and to recreate forest cover, either for productive or for protective purposes, on already deforested fragile land. Specifically, the National Agricultural Policy of 1988 in which the Forestry Policy is subsumed, provides for:
Consolidation and expansion of the forest estate and its management for sustained yield.
Regeneration of the forests at rates higher than exploitation.
Conservation and protection of the environment viz: forest, soil, water, flora, fauna and the protection of the forest resources from fires, cattle grazers and illegal encroachment.
Development of Forestry industry through the harvesting and utilisation of timber and its derivatives and the reduction of wastes.
Wildlife conservation, management and development through the creation and effective management of national parks, game reserves, tourist and recreational facilities, etc.
These policy objectives have been well enunciated but mostly unrealized for several logistic problems. For example, one of the strategies for achieving the consolidation and expansion of the forest estate was the expansion of the forest estate from 10% to 20%, but, this so far has remained elusive.
For the above policy or objectives to be achieved, significant legal and policy changes are needed as it relates to the institutional framework, constitutional changes in respect of forest ownership and development planning, as well as programme implementation. These challenges call for private sector and peoples' participation, the evolution of an appropriate national forestry legislation, aggressive and scientific forest management, capacity building and adequate financing of forestry development in Nigeria. Indeed the creation of the Federal Ministry of Environment and the transfer of the Federal Department of Forestry to it is only a start in the right direction.
Among some of the legislative changes that have so far occurred but do not seem to have a profound effect of enhancing forestry development in Nigeria are:
(The land use Decree No. 6 of 1978 which vests all land in each State of Nigeria in the Governor of the State. The impact is mixed and there has been abuses.
The Nigeria Forestry Act, 1937: Most land use, forestry, and natural resources conservation laws were established early in this century. This Act gave each Governor or Local Government Authority, the empowerment to constitute its own forest reserves. Some States have enacted specific regulations to monitor and control the reserves, but overall control is not effective. De-reservation instead is frequent and penalties under most laws are uniformly low and seldomly enforced.
National Parks Decree: This has led to the creation of the National Parks Governing Board and the creation of the Department of National Parks.
Other laws which have provision for affecting nature conservation include:
The Wild Animals Preservation Act of 1916,
the Endangered Species Decree of 1985;
the Public Lands Act of 1970 and
the various National Parks Decree, i.e. Kainji Lake National Park Decree, 1979.
Each National Park will be administered by a Park Management Committee chaired by an eminent professional appointed by the Minister under the recommendation of State Government and managed by a General Manager.
A variety of deficiencies exists in the existing State laws and legislation. There are the growing economic, social and legal complexities of the contemporary setting on the one hand and the increasing demand for diverse forestry goods and services on the other. The need to review and modify existing forest laws as well as evolve new legislation to harmonize the overlapping responsibilities of the Federal, State Governments, Local Councils and the various multi-purpose parastatals for forest resources is recognized and already in progress.
Forest management in Nigeria started with the establishment of regional forestry authorities whose main function was the constitution of forest reserves. The total area of forest reserve today is put at 96 000 km2. The term `forest reserve' today is only a nomenclature used generally to indicate a land use designation and does not indicate that they actually contain forests or vegetation. A lot of it has been highly deforested. Generally, the forest reserves are managed for the production of forest resources, which include timber and non-timber forest products.
Initially, the forest resources in the high forest zone were managed for timber production on a felling cycle of 100 years. Minimum girth limits were set between the equivalent of 60 - 90 d.b.h. depending on the species. Forests in the Southern and South Central were sub-divided into numbered miles-square compartments and forest under exploitation were managed under working plans prepared by the forestry departments. In response to exploitation pressures, the felling cycle for natural forests was reduced to 50 years and even less.
Natural regeneration of the exploited forests was stimulated by the Tropical Shelterwood System (TSS). Owing to increased demand for forest land, slow and low growth rates of the natural forest and the consequent conversion of forest reserves to other land use, the TSS was abandoned in favour of artificial regeneration via Taungya System. The Taungya plantations while forming protective belts around the accessible parts of forest reserves, also provided the pilot phase for subsequent major plantation schemes in the high forest zone.
The management and control of forest reserves is vested in the State Governments. The Federal Department of Forestry has only monitoring and advisory functions and holds no executive authority in the management of forest reserves and other forest lands. The creation of the National Parks Board gave the Federal Government some measure of executive powers over the protection of the constituted National Parks. Generally, management of the forest reserves has been inadequate and forest management seem to have been replaced by the project syndrome.
The paradigm shift was the conversion of a large portion of the forest reserves particularly in the Guinea Savannah and the High Forest Zones to forest plantations of exotic and indigenous species. The level to which this has been successful is debatable. Indeed State Forestry Departments have been unable to protect the forest estate adequately, even the usual boundary maintenance was impossible (may be due to poor funding of forestry development), thus leading to a period of extensive encroachment in the form of vast farm lands, settlements and excision for other purposes. The private sector is not particularly involved in the management of forest reserves in the country. Their major interest has been in the conversion of forest resources; an approach that have proved singularly inappropriate so far. In recent times, international initiatives to assist some State Governments in the management of forest reserves have been taken by Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Overseas Development Authority (ODA).
The main obstacles to forestry development and sustainable management in Nigeria may be summarized to include:
Forest Ownership which inhibits Federal intervention for sustainability.
Unlimited powers of State Chief Executives to de-reserve or exploit the forests.
Forest policy lack legal backing and so cannot be enforced.
Poor State funding of forestry programmes and forest management.
Inadequate financing by Federal Government for forestry development.
Poor funding of forestry research and training.
Proliferation of agencies and duplication of duties resulting in cross sectoral policies and lack of sectoral dialogue.
Absence of a reliable data base on which to base forestry planning and development.
Obsolete and unenforceable State Forestry legislation.
Forest tariffs which are ridiculously low and are not revised frequently.
These problems are further compounded by natural disasters such as drought and flooding; forest fires due to bush burning, extensive arable farming and over grazing of forest lands.
THE OUTLOOK FOR FOREST RESOURCES
Outlook studies carried out by Federal Department of Forestry (FDF) in 1990 reveals that a deficit of all types of logs exist, except for pulpwood for which only long fibre is in short supply. The demand and supply is shown in Table 3.
Table 4: Demand and supply forecasts. For log classes (`000 m3 Roundwood volume)
1990 |
2000 |
2010 |
||||||||
Wood Type |
Demand |
Supply |
Demand |
supply |
Demand |
Supply | ||||
|
Fuelwood Poles Sawlog Veneer logs Plywood |
73 949 1 678 3 992 395 227 |
82 026 1 432 3 482 163 724 |
83 521 2 183 6 378 650 410 |
71 349 1 272 2 996 136 724 |
88 138 2 729 10 205 1 078 760 |
63 099 1 153 2 480 114 724 | ||||
Total |
77 641 |
87 829 |
89 410 |
76 587 |
94 913 |
67 571 | ||||
Source: FDF (1994)
The deficit in fuelwood is estimated at 25 million m3 in year 2010. The deficit in Sawnwood is increasing fast from 1.8 million m3 to an estimated 7.8 million m3 in 2010. The deficit in poles of 0.8 million m3 will double in 2010 to 2.3 million m3. The lack of veneer logs could be satisfied in the future by substitution of plywood by other panels, especially particle board. The wood requirement for the different grades of paper is as shown in Table 4.
Table 5: Wood requirement for paper products (1 000 m3)
|
Wood class |
Year | ||||
2000 |
2005 |
2010 |
2015 |
2020 | |
Newsprint Printing and Writing Craft and Paper Board |
71 8 39 |
165 13 56 |
102 18 73 |
218 29 110 |
296 40 146 |
Total |
118 |
234 |
193 |
357 |
482 |
These will all increase substantially into the future thus placing a substantial burden on the country scarce foreign exchange that would be required for pulp and paper import.
The management of the forest estate of Nigeria has been very problematic over the past years. Management method such as Tropical Shelterwood System (TSS) and enrichment planting aimed at regenerating the natural forest have not proved very successful in Nigeria. Efforts directed at establishment of plantation of indigenous and exotic species such as Khaya, Nauclea, Cedrella, Teak, Eucalyptus and Gmelina have been very limited in scale due to poor funding.
Forest management is still plagued by lack of management/working plans, infrequent forest inventory, lack of reliable database, inadequate silvicultural practices, pests, inadequate funding, poor executive capacity, institutional problems and a host of others.
The forests, for instance, are no longer adequately policed by forest guards and timber cutting is mostly unregulated. Most of the forest reserves lack working plans, the various forestry Departments are short staffed. There is an enormous shortfall in the afforestation rate required to keep pace with current and expected timber demand.
In many States poor forest utilisation practices still exist at the stump and at the conversion sites causing excessive wastes leading to increased timber harvest. Forestry staff, especially at the State level require more training to enable them face up-to the challenges of sustainable forestry development in the country.
The recently concluded studies on Forest Resources, Vegetation and Land Use Changes Assessment and the National Tropical Forestry Action Plan are indeed very revealing of the poor State of forest resources in the country and tend to stress the need for a new paradigm shift.
The current state of the forest and forest management in Nigeria calls for a drastic shift of emphasis. There appears to be cross sectoral activities inhibiting sustained management of the forest currently. This requires agreement and commitment among all the stakeholders and cross sectoral dialogue for a fuller understanding of the issues involved and a joint initiative at reversing the ugly environmental trends. Indeed environmental issues and resource management education is urgently required at all levels of Government, industry and the general population.
The policy thrust in the National Agricultural Policy of 1988 needs to be reviewed. Nigeria must now develop appropriate policies governing the forest resource base, forest management and the forest industry within the States. The existing forest policies are not adequately backed by law and there is a need to hasten the evolution of the National Forestry Law or legislation to lend authority for enforcing the forest policy.
Raw wood resource demands currently exceed supply in Nigeria thus putting a lot of pressure on the remaining forest resource base, particularly the natural forests.
The gap between supply and demand is expected to widen as demand increases with population growth in the new millennium. In order to attain the goal of sustainable forest management and be self-sufficient in forest goods and services, Nigeria must engage in an aggressive reforestation/afforestation programme designed to meet industrial, energy, and fibre requirements include the Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP).
In this direction, there is need for international intervention in the form of technical and financial assistance to the forestry sub-sector to enable it implement sustainable forest management and development practices in collaboration with the private sector, local communities and all other stakeholders.
