Environmental Degradation With Particular Reference To The Sub-Humid And Ariparts Of Nigeria: Prospects For Conservation

Abstract

Natural resources are our most valuable inheritance. Indeed the increased interest in the environment today testifies to the common interest and commitment in the promotion and the protection of this heritage. This is particularly in view of the past years of drought when many came to realize the importance of conservation in the socioeconomic and political well being of our society. As the result of increased awareness of environmental problems and the recent considerations, the new Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEN) now takes precedence over the Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) which is being integrated into FMEN. Ecological Disaster Fund, Nigeria Conservation Foundation, and the National Committee on Drought and Desertification Control have now consolidated their mandates on environmental problems. In this regard, the formation of environmental clubs adds to the growing number of groups playing the necessary leadership roles in this important endeavour. Indeed the conservation issue should presently be the preoccupation of Nigerians.

Conservation of degraded natural resources is basic to the principles of ecology that, in the energy stratification phenomenon of the world’s total standing biomes, the primary producers, the green plants, are the foundation of the food chain. When this foundation is threatened, all of us are threatened as vividly seen during periods of drought. The priority action required now is for us to embark on effective planning and management of the natural resources so as to secure their prudent use and continuity of supply, while maintaining and enhancing their quality, value, and diversity of the flora, fauna and the physio-geographical features of our environment.

Natural resources, of course consist of more than forest, vegetation and wildlife. According to Gerasimov et al (1971), “natural resources are those varied raw materials that man derives directly from nature and by means of which he sustains his livelihood. These resources are the natural vegetation and animal life that provide man with food and industrial raw materials; the air he breathes; the soil that nurtures his crops; the water he drinks and uses in agriculture, industry and power production; the ores he smelts; the rocks with which he builds his houses; the coal and oil that serve as domestic fuel and provide energy for his machines; and much more.”

Broadly, and according to Gerasimov, natural resources could be categorized into three groups: non-renewable, renewable, and inexhaustible. Among non- renewable ones are a large number of valuable minerals such as gold, iron ore, coal, oil, etc. Their use will lead to exhaustion unless new deposits and reserves are worked. Salt is an exception in this case, as it could be precipitated out of lakes and lagoons of salty water. Renewable resources include soil, natural vegetation, and animal life. They are continuously replaced by nature as they are utilized; their use may however exceed supply. The inexhaustible natural resources include water and climate (solar radiation and wind). Their use may not lead to depletion but unskilled or careless use of these resources may lead to their pollution, lowering of quality and undesirable distribution. In the case of water, it may lead to exhaustion