By Esseh Ikora
The Chief Executive officer of Global Wildlife Conservation, Dr Russell Mittermeir has advocated for the strict enforcement of forestry laws to conserve the nation’s forest reserves as well as protect wildlife and it’s natural environment .
He made the advocacy in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state after visiting the Itam and Imbiakong swam forests which he said had good number of endangered monkey and other animal species.
According to Mittermeir, he was in Nigeria to mark this year’s International Forestry Day (IFD) as well as assess the level of forest conservation and wildlife protection with a view to encouraging international wildlife conservation agencies to partner with the government in protecting the nation’s forest reserves.
Observing that Nigeria had strong legislation to protect the forest and wildlife, he noted that government’s inability to implement the laws had provided enabling environment for illegal logging, farming and hunting, which were affecting the ecosystem.
“I came to Nigeria, a great country, with great number of wildlife. I visited the Calabar wildlife park, the Mbiakong and Itam swam forest where I saw good number very special species of red cap monkeys.
“The country has great tourism potentials. I know that all over the world, government alone cannot fund the development and protection of the forest reserves and natural environment.
“I am here to see things for myself and to identify areas of collaboration. The management of Biodiversity Protection Center (BPC) have done a great job in sensitizing the local communities on the need to protect the forest and it’s inhabitants,” Mittermeir said.
He appealed to the federal government to make visa processing easier for genuine tourists, adding that the delay in visa issuance for intending tourists was denying the country huge foreign exchange.
The Chief Executive officer, Biodiversity Protection Center (PBC), Dr Edem Eniang, who took the visitors on guided tour of the forests expressed fears over the alarming rate of deforestation in Nigeria.
While warning that the country could lose its forest reserves in the next 25 years if the deforestation continued, he lamented that researches by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) had shown that Nigeria was gradually losing it’s vast forest land.
“The change in forest cover of Nigeria between 1999 and 2000 indicated that Nigeria was losing on the average 409,700 hectares of forest per year which amounts to an annual deforestation rate of 2.38% per year, which subsequently increased to 31.2% to 3.12% between 2000 and 2005,” Mittermeir said.
He noted that the country had not exploited its vast forests to her benefits, regretting that the country had indiscriminately over-exploited, abused and devastated the once rich forests with direct and indirect consequences on its rich biodiversity.
