2.4.1 Loss of Biodiversity
The World Wildlife Fund defines biodiversity as a huge variety of animals and plants on our planet living and depending on each other in the place they are found. Nigeria is endowed with rich biodiversity which provides a source of food, raw materials, medicines, commercial and domestic products, aesthetics and cultural value (Usman and Adefalu 2010; Mfon et al. 2014a; Fifth National Biodiversity Report 2015). The biodiversity is contained in the different forests, coastal mangroves and savannah woodlands in the country. Since Nigeria depends on agriculture, biodiversity supports 70-80% of the food requirements of 70% of the rural population, while 30-50% of the urban communities depend on biodiversity for their nutritional need (Babayemi 2011;
Fifth National Biodiversity Report 2015: 2).
Mmom and Mbee (2013) and Mfon (2014a) have shown that the biodiversity in the coastal area of Niger Delta provides a variety of sea-food sources and several rich mangrove ecosystems that are productive. Some swamps provide vegetables, wild nuts
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and fruits. Furthermore, the Guinea savannah woodlands of Nigeria are still rich in wildlife with fruit trees and vegetables of various types, while the Sudan savannah on the other hand provides food and fodder for grazing livestock (Fifth National Biodiversity Report 2015). With this rich biodiversity in Nigeria, research has revealed that human activities are altering and impacting negatively on biodiversity. (Adeyinka 2012; Ejidike and Ajayi 2013; Anyanwu 2016).
The Fifth National Biodiversity Report (2015:5) states: “Biodiversity therefore forms an integral link between poverty reduction, provision of employment, and sustainable livelihood” (2015: 5). Changes in the function and structure of any given ecosystem lead to biodiversity depletion and the loss can affect the availability of some services which may be detrimental to the aesthetic, ethical, socio-economic and socio-cultural values of human communities. Consequently, the poor are then pushed to destroying their own source of livelihoods for a meagre amount of money because they cannot secure an alternative source for their long-term survival (Boff 1994; Conradie and Field 2000; Fifth National Biodiversity Report 2015). For example, over-harvesting, agricultural encroachment, increased pressures from hunters and poachers, and unregulated burning are believed to have been contributing to the decline of many species in the wild (Miller 2010; Schaefer 2010). The Fifth National Biodiversity Report (2015: 17) concurs with Mfon et al. (2014a) and states that “Nigeria’s wildlife is rapidly declining due to habitat loss and increased pressure from hunters, poachers and bush burning”.
The Report specifically gives the names of some of the endangered species that have disappeared in Nigeria as a result of biodiversity loss, to include Giant Eland (Taurotragus derbianus), Giraffe (Giraff camelo pardalis), Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis), Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the Pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis).
The Nigerian Conservation Federation (NCF) on its part affirms and decries the decline in the population of pangolins in the biodiversity in Nigeria. In the words of the chairperson of NCF, “Our environment is in danger; a lot of wild animals like pangolins are at the risk of going into extinction and there is over-exploitation of these animals”
(Daily Trust, Saturday 18 February 2017). To further confirm this loss of biodiversity,
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Aikhionbare (2015: 2) estimates that “In Nigeria, it has been estimated that 899 species of birds, 274 mammals, 154 reptiles, 53 amphibians and 4 715 species of higher plants will be strongly affected by deforestation”. Based on this assertion, deforestation is an environmental problem which is degrading the land and depleting habitats leading to the huge loss of biodiversity in Nigeria.
2.4.2 Increase in Carbon dioxide
Deforestation reduces the number of trees available in a particular area and leads to an increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere (Meyer 1991; Deane-Drummond 2008; Mfon et al. 2014a; Aikhionbare 2015). This enhances the Greenhouse Effect, which contributes largely to global warming. In a similar manner, Mfon (2014a) observed that carbon dioxide is injurious to the health of both humans and animals when it gets into the atmosphere. Reduction in the number of trees in an environment leads to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted into the atmosphere and that results in the death of plants and animals.
2.4.3 Water cycle disruption
Another negative effect of deforestation is the disruption of the water cycle. Regarding this, Aikhionbare (2015) argues that trees play an important role in the water cycle by absorbing the rain water as well as releasing water vapour into the atmosphere. The statistics available have shown that the Sahara desert which is common in the northern parts of Nigeria has already encroached into the southern parts because of deforestation (Mmom and Mbee 2013; Mfon et al. 2014a; Mfon et al. 2014b). If there is torrential rainfall in the north, there is incessant flooding along the coastal areas of the south because the roots of the trees that would have reduced the strength of the water are no longer available for that purpose as a result of deforestation (Mfon et al. 2014a;
Putatunda 2016). Therefore, the National Geographic (2016) notes that without trees to maintain the water cycle many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.
2.4.4 Soil depletion
Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover, they quickly dry out. Roots normally can hold soils together especially on slopes and may prevent
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the possibility of landslides in particular areas (Skye 2015). Deforestation and poor land management can lead also to infertility of the soil and soil erosion. In addition, Putatunda (2016) concurs with Skye (2015) that, when it rains the soil nutrients are washed away with the rainwater into the waterways leaving the top soil not fit for crop cultivation. Here one can infer that depletion of the forest and degradation of the land endangers the soil and renders it infertile for agriculture. This further pushes the poor into harsh economic realities, since they depend on the land for their subsistence crop production.