TACKLING DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT
There is need to reset the country’s environmental agenda
With ‘Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience’ as theme, the 2024 World Environment Day is significant in many respects. We hope Nigeria’s delegates to the session being hosted today in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to mark the day understand the gravity of the challenge at hand. A recent report by the United Nations that Nigeria has the highest deforestation rate in the world, with an estimated 3.7 per cent of its forest lost every year, should concern all relevant stakeholders.
Of all the five most critical factors that affect the global environment, namely, air pollution, overpopulation, deforestation, climate change and global warming, the biggest threat to Nigeria’s environment remains deforestation. This is without losing sight of the waste management challenges, flooding, desertification, gully soil and coastal erosion that bedevil various parts of the country. Ordinarily, forests are home to wildlife which perform a broad range of critical environmental and climatic functions including the maintenance of constant supply of water and ensuring clean air and prevention of desertification, soil, and gully erosion.
In its report, ‘High and Dry: Climate Change, Water and the Economy’ a few years ago, the World Bank said: “Water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, could cost some regions up to six per cent of their GDP, spur migration and spark conflict.” The report claimed that climate-driven water scarcity could hit economic growth by up to six per cent in some regions and that the combined effects of growing populations, rising incomes and expanding cities would see demand for water rising exponentially, “while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain.” The report particularly contains a serious warning for Nigeria that is yet to be heeded. “Food price spikes caused by droughts can inflame latent conflicts and drive migration. Where economic growth is impacted by rainfall, episodes of droughts and floods have generated waves of migration and spikes in violence within countries,” it said.
Therefore, the need for environmentally and socially equitable approaches to these challenges is imperative. The desert is still encroaching at the speed of more than 1.6 kilometres annually. There are almost 3,000 erosion sites in the Southeast. Flooding in Lagos is anything but ordinary. Rising temperature is increasingly becoming unbearable while agriculturists are struggling to adapt to the attendant climate variability with serious socio-economic implications. The National Park Service that is charged with the responsibility of protecting swathes of forests and their biodiversity is lacking in capacity apart from being inadequately funded and supported.
As things stand today, only less than 4 per cent of the country’s untouched forest cover is left. More frightening is the fact that 1.5 million trees are felled every day owing to illegal logging. There is need to completely reset the country’s environmental agenda. The fight against insurgency and banditry should be ramped up to rein in the devastation and degradation of the natural environment across the country. Environmental remediation measures such as the Great Green Wall Project should be taken more seriously and adequately funded. Stringent statutory provisions should be put in place to protect the various ecosystems and their biodiversity.
Beyond the foregoing, there should be more transparency and accountability in the application of Ecological Funds that must be made to serve their purpose fully and directly. Tougher measures should be put in place to checkmate wanton emission of noxious and deleterious gases through gas flaring and use of outdated machines. Electricity challenges in the country should be addressed to minimise the use of power generating sets. The Green Recovery Project of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) must attract deserved encouragement and partnership.
If we must reclaim our country from the hazards of nature, several important measures will have to be taken in the coming years.
