Tropical Forest Landscape Change and the Role of Agroforestry Systems in Southern Nigeria.
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Date
2012-07
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Abstract
The paper analyzes tropical forest landscape change and deforestation trends in Nigeria.
Emphasis’ are on the issues, the environmental analysis of the trends, factors influencing
it, and community agroforestry efforts. The time frame and setting for the study runs
through the west African nation of Nigeria during the periods of 1976 through 2005 at the
national and state levels. In fact, Nigeria was once covered by widespread vegetation
comprising of humid tropical forests in the south and savannah grasslands in the north
rich in biodiversity. A great percentage of this luxurious vegetation has been cleared by
the pressures mounted by human activities with eventual degradation. In terms of
methods, the paper uses mixscale approach based on descriptive statistics, temporal
spatial analysis and mapping, and photographic images to analyze the trends associated
with tropical deforestation. The results show visible changes in the form of large scale
decline of Nigeria’s forest landscape over the years. This resulted in the disappearance of forest resources and vegetation cover with mounting threats to sensitive natural areas.
Aside from the socio-economic elements linked with the problem, community efforts at
the margin using agroforestry systems showed some promise with many benefits to stem
the tide of deforestation. To remedy the problems, the paper offered some
recommendations ranging from policy overhaul to education.
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Keywords
Deforestation, forest landscape change, tropical forest, agroforestry systems, degradation, biodiversity, environment, Nigeria
Citation
Merem Edmund C, Wesley Joan, Twumasi Yaw A, Richardson Chandra, Romorno Coney. Tropical Forest Landscape Change and the Role of Agroforestry Systems in Southern Nigeria. British Journal of Environment and Climate Change. 2012 Jul-Sept; 2(3): 288-317.