Nigeria has a rain forest zone in the south. Forest cover decreases in density towards the north, where the savannah belt is characterised by grasses and sparse tree cover. The rain forest ecosystem lies between latitudes 4⁰N and 9⁰N and extends from the coast to about 250km inland. Historical accounts also indicate that the country’s rain forest, which was over 600,000km² in 1897 (60% of land mass), had reduced by about half in 1960 to 30% of land mass. Nigeria’s forests covered an estimated 175,000km² in 1990 and 135,000km² in 2000. Between 2000 and 2004, the country was said to have lost 55.7% of its primary forests – that is, 75,195km² of native and original forests that have never been logged and have developed under natural processes. A report by the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) shows that the decline rate of forest cover in Nigeria ranged from 3.5% to 3.7% per annum over the period 2000 to 2010. This translates to a loss of 350,000–400,000 hectares of forest land yearly.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
What is the Current Status of Nigeria’s Forest Cover?
