Deforestation in Nigeria and the Millennium Development Goals: Challenges and Prospects

Nigerians have always depend on the forest for their survival, economic development, as well as environmental amelioration. This quest for survival by man has severe impact on the environment and Millennium Development Goals. However, only half-hearted efforts have been made to control deforestation, leading to the almost total destruction of Nigerian forests. Therefore, sustainable development has become a central issue of discuss. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine deforestation in Nigeria and the Millennium Development Goals: Challenges and Prospects. The paper being a qualitative study relied mostly on secondary sources which were subjected to content analysis. The study argued that most forest destructions in Nigeria is carried out by poor people, who were denied access to land and these people depend on the forest for their existence. Other causes include settlement expansion, large scale agricultural and development projects. The activities of man, through the act of deforestation affected the achievement of Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria. Based on the above findings, the study recommended among other things that Agricultural Science subject in Secondary Schools should be expanded to include relevant aspects of forestry, indigenous knowledge, rural development, agro-forestry and environmental sciences. Budgetary allocations to all the three tiers of government should be increased and released promptly for forestry operations. The private sector and NGO's should be encouraged to participate in biodiversity conservation through grants and tax rebates.