Depletion of forest resources in south eastern Nigeria: who loses?

Abstract

Forest management in south eastern Nigeria has changed hands from the forest communities to foreign technology. As a result the sustainable, conservative and cyclical use that characterised the communities that lived in balance with their forest resources are no longer practised. Consequently, a great deal of the region's valuable timber trees has been lost and the environmental influences of the forest grossly reduced. The local communities have not only been deprived of a multitude of non-timber forest resources upon which they depend for their survival and well-being but have also lost their knowledge of traditional forest management. Although these consequences are far-reaching, the neglected majority in the rural areas bear the brunt. To save what is left of the once vast forest areas, communities in and around the biome need to be empowered to manage their forest resources. Empowerment will challenge their responsibility and their ability to function for the common good—themselves, the State and the world at large.