INCIDENCE OF DEFORESTATION AMONG THE POPULACE AND ENVIRONMENT OF ODIGHI COMMUNITY

ABSTRACT

Today  forest occupy approximately one –third of earth land area, account for two – third of  the leaf area of plants on land and contain 70 percent of carbon present in living things .Thus, the food and agricultural organization (FAO) of the united nations estimates that in 2000, 38.7 million square kilometer of land on earth is forested. Forest is essential to all human life because people who live within the forest zone depend on them for survival in many ways. These include food, medicine, fuel wood, shelter, clothing, timber, construction materials e.t.c. The forest also clean the air, water, ameliorate the climate, check water and wind erosion (Azeke, 2003). Forest contains roughly 90 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.
However, forest is a major causality of civilization as human population have increased over the past several  thousand years (with the world population today estimated to number 7.001 billion by united state census Bureau)  bringing  deforestation, pollution and industrial usages problems to this important biome (forest).The contributions of forests to human well-being can only be sustained if the forests are themselves sustained.(Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO 1994).But Nigeria has lost most of  her natural forest cover which is a serious problem, with  forest loss occurring at a rate of 3.5 percent per year, which translate to a loss of 350,000 to 400,000 hectares per year (Adedoyin 2001, Aruofor 2000).Since 1990, the country has lost over 6 million ha or 36 percent of its forests cover. Nigeria has been losing an average 11 percent of its primary forest each year. This figure gives Nigeria the highest deforestation rate of natural forest in the world.
Deforestation is the removal of forest stand where the land is put to a non – forests use (SAFnet Dictionary). Deforestation results from subsistence farming, commercial farming, road construction projects, logging, mining and dam construction. However, Hazel and Lutz (1998) attributed resources degradation in extensive rain fed farming (characteristic of tropical forest environment) areas to poverty and population growth. Scherr and Hazell (1994) also identified conversion of primary forest to agriculture, with attendant loss of biodiversity, climate change and expose of fragile soil as part of environmental problems emanating from rain fed farming (which cause deforestation).Deforestation could be caused by plantations and commodities and settlements.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background of the study

 

Today, forests occupy about one-third of the land mass, account for two-thirds of the leaf area of ​​plants and contain 70% of carbon in living organisms. Thus, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that in 2000, 38.7 million square kilometers of land is forested. The forest is essential to all human life because people who live in the forest area depend on it for their survival in many ways. These include food, medicine, firewood, shelter, clothing, wood, building materials e.t.c. The forest also cleans the air, water, improves the climate, checks water and wind erosion (Azeke, 2003). The forest contains about 90 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.
environment
However, the forest is a major causality of civilization since the human population has increased over the past thousand years (with the world population now estimated at 7,001 billion by the US Census Bureau), bringing problems of deforestation, pollution and industrial uses. (forest). The contribution of forests to human well-being can only be sustained if forests are themselves supported (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO 1994). But Nigeria has lost most of its natural forest cover. with a forest loss of 3.5% per year, which translates into a loss of 350,000 to 400,000 hectares per year (Adedoyin 2001, Aruofor 2000). Since 1990, the country has lost more than 6 million hectares, or 36% of its forest cover. Nigeria loses an average of 11% of its primary forest each year. This figure gives Nigeria the highest rate of deforestation in the world’s natural forest. Deforestation is the removal of a forest stand where land is used for non-forest purposes (SAFnet dictionary). Deforestation results from subsistence farming, commercial agriculture, road construction projects, logging, mining and dam construction. However, Hazel and Lutz (1998) attributed the degradation of resources from extensive rain-fed agriculture (characteristic of the tropical forest environment) to poverty and population growth. Scherr and Hazell (1994) also identified the conversion of primary forest to agriculture, with loss of biodiversity, climate change and exposure of fragile soils as part of the environmental problems arising from rainfed crops (which cause deforestation). and the goods and regulations.