Charcoal, logging activities deplete Kwara forests

Kwara State with 36,825 square kilometres of land boasts of several economic and environmental trees but deforestation through charcoal and illegal logging activities has resulted in a gradual loss of its biodiversity.

Deforestation statistics for Kwara published by Mongabay said the state has “a total area of 3,547,840 hectares.

According to the report, from 2001 to 2018, 23,474 hectares of tree cover, representing 22 per cent, were lost to deforestation in the state. Of that figure, it said 17,169 hectares (11 per cent) of tree cover were destroyed between 2011 and 2018 with carbon biomass of 22,806,934 metric tons emitting 5,290,927 Mt from 2001 to 2018.

On its part, the Global Forest Report said Kwara in 2010 had 154kha of tree cover, extending over 4.4% of its land area. But in 2022, it lost 2.77kha of tree cover, equivalent to 1.55Mt of CO₂ emissions.

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In spite of this frightening data, charcoal and logging activities appear not to be slowing down notwithstanding government efforts to curb the situation.

Today in the state, insecurity, state forest staff shortage and activities of charcoal producers, among others, have depleted the state forest reserve to a large extent with the rate expected to rise.

Worried by the activities of charcoal producers, the state government, before the coming of this administration, amended section 1 of the Kwara Charcoal Prohibition Laws of 2005 which stipulated a N50,000 fine or one-year imprisonment for offenders found guilty of charcoal production. According to the new law, an offender is now liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding N100, 000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.

In addition, the person shall also forfeit to the government the charcoal and any vehicle, equipment, or implement used in the commission of the offence. Loggers are also expected to plant two seedlings for a tree felled.

Around 2020, the Kwara State government announced a month’s closure of the forest for all activities except farming, and expressed worries that indiscriminate activities in the forest are fast disrupting the state ecosystem and exposing it to severe effects of climate change.

“The state government is very worried about the rate of wanton deforestation for both legal and illegal purposes such as charcoal and other wood resources/products without commensurate regeneration,” former Commissioner for Environment, Aliyu Saifudeen, said during a briefing with journalists in Ilorin.

He added that, “This is causing a tremendous imbalance in our ecosystem and climate change. Accordingly, the ministry has taken a painful decision to ‘close the forest’ for all kinds of activities for a minimum period of one month to take stock of what is left of the natural endowment for further action and inventory of what goes on therein. Offenders are liable to prosecution.

“While this lasts, those who have any business to do with the forest are required to make themselves available to the ministry for fresh registration, including farmers whose farmlands are in excess of 25 hectares.”

Saifudeen said then that the state government would embark on a massive tree planting to be flagged off by the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, “to address the question of deforestation and climate change, adding that, “There is a policy of cut one tree and plant five, and for new sites being developed, a number of trees must be planted.”

But he further noted that, “This has not been complied with totally. Strict adherence to this policy would be replicated at every local government area of the state to salvage our predicament of deforestation.”

But in a chat with Daily Trust, the President of the Kwara State Timber Chainsaw Millers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Ajala Babatunde Magaji, said their activities do not pose a threat to climate change if the government steps up its regulation and control of the forest.

He said, “The government collects ‘restoration fee’ as part of the money we pay them to plant trees. After such payment, it is no longer our duty to plant. But despite that, we established about three plantations (restoration forests) across the state. The one we have at Egbejila has been destroyed by herders and we have to abandon it.”

He added that the presence of migrants who relocated from the northern parts of the country and other places has limited their presence in the bush for fear of being kidnapped.

He said the union remits about N15 million annually to state government coffers. He charged the state government to come up with a good policy on afforestation and put in place a task force to properly police the forest.

“We want the Kwara State government to plant trees and set up a regulatory body to curtail excesses of intruders. Some farmers in the name of farming destroyed trees without replacement. We don’t just cut down any tree but only the one that is usable. But charcoal producers and farmers don’t do that; they cut down any tree without replacement. The state government should clamp down on charcoal dealers in the state as their activities expose the soil surface to erosion and deforestation,” he said.

Speaking on the issue, the Director of Forestry, Ministry of Environment, Alhaji Babatunde Mahmud, told our correspondent in his office that the government is not resting on its oars to ensure the proper regulation and preservation of the forest in the state.

He said the major challenges they are facing are insecurity, staffing and funding.

He said though the state has forest officers in nearly all the local governments in the state, many of them have moved to urban centres.

He added that many of the officers who used to live and sleep in the forest can no longer do so.

“Our activities have been affected because of the issue of insecurity. The few monitoring vehicles and motorcycles used by our foresters can no longer go into the interior or even sleep over as they used to do.

“Insecurity is our major challenge because there is nothing a trained forester can do in the present situation.

“Another challenge is the issue of charcoal producers and the menace of their activities in the forest. Some of them present receipts from other states as excuses when we go after them. So arresting illegal loggers is difficult,” he said.

He acknowledged that the registered loggers pay to the government through the consultants and are supervised by forest officers. He however said, “It is expected that when we collect money, we plant trees, but that does not stop the loggers from having their own plantation.

“But we are partnering with different NGOs and we recently planted over 1,000 tree seedlings.

“Regarding insecurity, most of those that attack us come in the night heavily armed. We cannot also rule out the issue of some poachers here and there who engage in illegal cutting of trees.

“But we have written to the governor to look into how we can have a joint security task force that will comprise several security agencies in the state and we are waiting, with the hope that the response will come soon.

“We are already looking for an alternative to charcoal production with the issue of biochar, a climate-friendly energy source to fully maximise and utilise the abundance of rice husks.