Extraction of Wood for Fuel: a Threat to Landscape Conservation in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria, a developing nation with the estimated population of 170 million people (Moghalu, 2013) has about half of this number residing in the rural areas where their effort towards the extraction of wood for fuel is highly recognized. Wood extraction for fuel is economical and serves as alternative to every other source of energy for cooking, parboiling of certain grains like rice, smelting, and smithing, among other things. This trend has gone beyond rural activities; rather, urban dwellers in Nigeria have joined. In their case, both dead and live woods were harvested, and in the newest approach, wood is reduced to charcoal and used for the same purpose. The magnitude of impact done on the landscape by this activity is what the local nationals are ignorant of and should be properly informed. Employing ethnographic techniques, this study investigated the diversified areas of wood extraction for fuel among Nigerians, the likely impact, and suggests the control and conservative measures through which the impacts can be mitigated.

Keywords: Wood Extraction, Fuel, Threat, Landscape, Conservation, Landscape Conservation, Nigeria