Environmental Impacts of the Uncontrolled Depletion of Rosewood (Madrid Wood) in Taraba State, Nigeria
- September 29, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Sociology
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue IX, September 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
John, Wajim
Department of Sociology, Federal University, Wukari, 200 Katsina-Ala Road, P.M.B 1020 Wukari, Nigeria
Abstract:-Timber merchants are moving from one state to another in Nigeria depleting the Rosewood in their forests, leaving empty landscapes without minding the enduring effects of uncontrolled harvesting of the tree on the environment due to its demand over the past number of decade in China where they are used for the construction of furniture to satisfy the appetite of the country’s middle class whose wealth has been on the increase. Apart from the effect on the environment, the forestry experts fear that the illegal activities of local and Chinese merchants will also have telling economic implications in the near future on many communities where the forests that grow the much sought-after tropical Woods are located. This study examined the environmental impacts of the uncontrolled depletion of Rosewood (Madrid Wood) in Taraba State, Nigeria. A cross sectional survey research was conducted to generate the research data used to answer the research questions. Both secondary sources and quantitative research approaches were combined in this study. Samples of five hundred and forty-four (544) questionnaires were administered by four trained research assistants but five hundred and seventeen (517) were duly completed and returned. The data from the returned questionnaires were analyzed with the help of Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). Thus, amongst other recommendations, the study recommends that Taraba State government should empower its forestry department to fully enforce the country’s forestry laws and policies. The study further recommends extensive public awareness campaign on the dire consequences of deforestation to people and environment.
Keywords: Environment, uncontrolled depletion, Rosewood, Taraba, Nigeria
I. INTRODUCTION
In many West African countries, a historical driver of deforestation has been noncompliance with forest-related laws and the poor governance of the forest resource. The substantial amount of illegal activities in the sector is a symptom of this failure. In the majority of countries with large forest areas and high levels of deforestation and degradation, illegal activities – both conversions of forests for agricultural purposes, and forest degradation, particularly that is caused by illegal logging have been the most significant drivers of deforestation (World Bank, 2008). One of the major threats to all species is habitat loss and deforestation. In Africa between the years 2000 and 2010, 3.4 million hectares of forest were converted for other uses (Innes, 2010). Worldwide close to 10 million hectares was lost from the tropics in 2014 (Global Forest Watch, 2016).
