3. A Report on the Forest Resource Situation Assessment of Nigeria
Nigeria is one of the countries in the West Africa sub-region. It is located between Latitudes 40-140N and Longitude 20-140E. It has a total area of 923,768km2. The population of Nigeria is estimated to be 90 million (1991 Census). It is bounded by the Republic of Chad and Niger Republic in the north, Benin Republic in the west, the Republic of Cameroon in the east and by the Atlantic Ocean in the south.
3.2. Administrative subdivision of Nigeria.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria is currently divided into 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory called Abuja as shown in Table 1 below. The States are further sub-divided into 776 local government areas.
Table 1: States in Nigeria/Area Status
|
S/N |
State |
Area (km2) |
|
Abia |
6,320 |
|
|
Adamawa |
36,719 |
|
|
Akwa-Ibom |
7,081 |
|
|
Anambra |
4,844 |
|
|
Bauchi/Gombe* |
64,605 |
|
|
Benue |
34,059 |
|
|
Borno |
70,898 |
|
|
Cross River |
20,156 |
|
|
Delta |
17,698 |
|
|
Edo |
17,802 |
|
|
Enugu/Ebonyi* |
12,831 |
|
|
Imo |
5,530 |
|
|
Jigawa |
23,156 |
|
|
Kaduna |
46,053 |
|
|
Kano |
20,131 |
|
|
Katsina |
24,192 |
|
|
Kebbi |
36,800 |
|
|
Kogi |
29,833 |
|
|
Kwara |
36,825 |
|
|
Lagos |
3,345 |
|
|
Niger |
76,363 |
|
|
Ogun |
16,762 |
|
|
Ondo/Ekiti* |
20,959 |
|
|
Osun |
9,251 |
|
|
Oyo |
28,454 |
|
|
Plateau/Nasarawa* |
58,030 |
|
|
Rivers/Bayelsa* |
21,850 |
|
|
Sokoto/Zamfara* |
65,735 |
|
|
Taraba |
54,473 |
|
|
Yobe |
45,502 |
|
|
Abuja (FCT) |
7,315 |
|
|
Total |
Source: Adapted from the Annual Abstract of Statistics, Federal Office of Statistics, 1993.
*States derived from further sub-division
3.3. Ecological Zones of Nigeria
The major ecological zones of Nigeria are as follows:
Freshwater swamps Forest
Lowland Rainforest
Mangrove Forest
Montane Savanna
Sudan Savanna
Guinea Savanna
Jos Plateau
Derived Savanna
Sahel Savanna.
3.4 Vegetation Classification:
The vegetation classification of Nigeria is very similar to the ecological classification shown in Figure 2 above. Vegetation classes are derived from the modification of the ecological zones by human interference.
The most recent classification of forests in Nigeria was done by Beak Consultants (1998) for FORMECU. Eight major forest types are recognised in the Forest Resources Study Area, which consists of about 28 States of the country. The States excluded from the study are the eight arid states in the northern part of the country namely: Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno, Gombe and Bauchi. The forest classification types are listed below:
Savanna and woodland
Lowland Rain Forest
Freshwater Swamps Forest
Mangrove Forest
Montane Forest
Riparian Forest
Plantation (agriculture)
Plantation (Forest)
