5. Forest Reserves, Free Areas and Conservation Areas

It is estimated that the total area of these forest reserves is 10 million ha which is about 10% of the total land area of Nigeria (World Bank 1992). It should be noted that forest reserves within the forest reserves vary according to ecological classification. Hence, forest reserves in the Savanna and Sahel regions may not necessarily have adequate timber resources like those in the lowland rain forest areas of southern Nigeria. These forest reserves are owned by the State Governments and managed the State Forestry Departments (SFD_S) who have professional and technical staff including uniform guards for performing their various responsibilities. The reservation of land for forestry purposes was at its peak during colonial times. Efforts to increase the size of the reserves (forestry estate) since then have not been too successful. Hence, only about 10% of the land area of the country is currently under forest reserves. As shown in Table 3 the total area in forest reserves of the FRS Study Area is 2,740,887 ha.

It should be noted that the bulk of the forestry products and services are obtained from the management of the forest reserves. Some of the major products include poles, sawnwood, veneer and fuelwood. However, these products are still obtainable from "free areas " of the country.

Free areas are forested areas that are not under strict management by the SFDs. However, permission to exploit trees from free areas still have to be obtained from SDFs. As can be seen in Table 3, the total area in free forest areas in the study area is 11,780,896 ha. They provide additional sources of forest products and services. In fact, they are considered to be very important for private forestry development. Some of the areas have been targeted as Potential Plantation Areas (PPAs).

Conservation areas in Nigeria include National Parks, Game and Wildlife sanctuaries, proposed Game Reserves/Wildlife Sanctuaries and Strict Nature Reserves (SNR). Table 4 is an updated list of conservation areas in the country.

Table 4 - Updated List of Conservation Areas in Nigeria

This list is based on the World Bank Report (Forest Sector Review) of 1992. As shown in Table 4, the total area under conservation is 3,989,871 ha.

It is worth noting that there are now six National Parks (NP) in Nigeria namely: Kainji NP (534,082 ha), Old Oyo NP (251,200 ha), Cross River NP (280,000 ha), Gashaka-Gumti NP (640,248 ha) Yankari NP (224,410 ha) and Chad Basin NP (225,800 ha). The total area occupied by the six National Parks in the country is 2,155,740 ha.

The National Parks Service manages all National Parks. Each of the National Parks is headed by a General Manager and supported by professional and technical staff. Apart from National Parks, other conservation areas include Game Reserves/Wildlife Sanctuaries and Strict Nature Reserves (SNRs). These categories of conservation areas are managed mainly by the wildlife sections of the SFDs. However, foreign organisations and Non-governmental organisation (NGOs) are very active in the management of SNRs.

Generally, conservation areas in Nigeria are still considered to be inadequate to protect biologically diverse environments in the country. Of particular interests are the Niger-Delta area and the Hadeja-Nguru wetlands. Oil exploration activities have adversely affected the environment in the Niger Delta areas. Human activities such as bush burning and shifting cultivation are destroying the ecosystem of the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands. Hence, the area is now gradually being destroyed as habitat for migratory birds from Europe.