Introduction
Deforestation can be defined as the process of general disruption of a forest ecosystem that occurs when trees are cut on a large scale. It also refers to any process that alters an original tree covers, which includes felling of all trees on a site, thinning a forest and setting bush on fire.
Trees are cut down by people for various reasons, for example trees are cut down to be used or sold as fuel in the form of charcoal and sometimes it can be used as pastures for livestock , building of houses and settlements etc. The removal of trees without adequate planting or reforestation can result to loss of biodiversity, habitat and aridity. Deforestation has also been …show more content…
Deforestation rate in Nigeria is set at 3.5% and 400,000 hectares yearly according to the Federal Ministry of Environments, meaning at least 400 out of every 1,000 of forestland are deforested yearly and only 26 hectares of these lands are reforested thus leaving about 374 hectares of land deforested (Babalola,2012). Throughout the course of the deforestation, forests and woodlands are permanently and totally destroyed (Institute for Environment and Sustainability-Global deforestation). The situation can be reversed with the right attitude to nature treatment. Over 90% of Nigeria’s forest has been lost to deforestation (Peacock 2011). He then added that the huge demolition of the forest calls for intervention by the younger generation that is coming up. In terms of the loss of major forests which is also known as old- growth forest, Nigeria still has the highest deforestation rate ion the globe (FAO, 2005). Nigeria lost 55.7percent of her major forests. According to (FAO), about 6million hectares of the world major forest is still lost per annum. This is very vital because major forests are taken as the most biologically diverse ecosystem on the