Professor of Botany at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Anthony Odiwe, has called for coordinated efforts among government agencies, research institutions, the private sector, and civil society for sustainable forest management in Nigeria.
Professor Odiwe also urged forest-dependent communities to be actively involved in conservation through participatory governance and sustainable livelihood opportunities that support ecosystem services.
The university don made the call on Tuesday while delivering the 423rd inaugural lecture of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, held at the Oduduwa Hall of the university.
A copy of the lecture, titled “Human Exploration of Forest Ecosystems: A Blessing or A Curse?”, obtained in Osogbo on Wednesday, said evidence from three decades of ecological research has shown that human exploration of forests is neither inherently benevolent nor unavoidably destructive.
Odiwe disclosed that the outcome depends on the manner, intensity, and intent of exploration.
“Human exploration becomes a blessing only when it evolves into stewardship. It is therefore obvious that forests are not victims of exploration but of unregulated exploitation,” he said.
The don urged policymakers to adopt ecosystem-based forest policies that recognise forests as more than sources of timber and land.
He said policies must also account for carbon storage, nutrient cycling, biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, and other ecosystem services.
Odiwe identified pollution as a major contributor to forest degradation and called for conservation efforts that address agrochemicals, industrial emissions, and waste.
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The professor who decried Nigeria’s deforestation rate said, “We must do everything possible to preserve our environment. Preservation does not mean we will not make use of our environment. But we must do it in such a way that it is sustainable. We must not destroy our environment.”
He added, “We have destroyed our forest. You can hardly go anywhere and find a forest there. You can’t even find secondary forest, let alone talk less of talking about primary forest”.
Odiwe, who noted that most environmental challenges Nigeria faces are linked to destroyed ecosystems, added that the lecture was meant to raise consciousness that environmental protection is not only the duty of botanists or foresters.
“There has to be a collaboration between the government, between all of us who are academics, between everybody who is involved. All of us must come together. We must first be convinced that we need to protect our environment. Once that is done, then we can all begin to form that synergy of how to address this problem,” he said.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
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