Sustainability of wood harvesting in tropical rainforest of Nigeria

Abstract

Over the years, Nigerian tropical rainforest has become the main source of timber supply to many countries which were in critical need of timber to feed their wood-based industries. The increase in population has led to increase in the demands for forest products, specifically wood for construction. Improper harvesting practices has substantially degraded the tropical forest that future timber values may be reduced. Sustainable wood harvesting focuses on the trees that are remaining rather than on the trees that are to be fell. Proper wood harvesting and management method must be adopted to facilitate the regeneration of the forest. Efficient wood harvesting in Nigeria requires the construction of landing sites as collection points for the harvested timbers and adequate training must be provided to the operators of the diverse harvesting equipment. With proper timber harvesting techniques, the damages caused by logging can be minimized. Functional forest policies that guide against over-exploitation of timber should be enacted. Reduced impact logging should be incorporated into sustainable forest management to reduce devastating damages to the residual trees in the forest.