A Delta State-based environmental advocate, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has warned that the Niger Delta might be forced into a complete shift away from wood-based roofing materials within the next decade if urgent measures were not taken to curb the region’s alarming rate of deforestation.
Speaking during an environmental sustainability engagement in Warri yesterday, Onuesoke lamented the continued destruction of forests through illegal logging, unchecked timber exportation, pipeline repairs, land clearing for real estate expansion, and burning of bushes for agriculture, activities that collectively deplete the green cover that once defined the region.
According to recent environmental impact assessments, Nigeria loses between 350,000 and 400,000 hectares of forest every year, with a significant portion of that loss occurring in the Niger Delta—one of the most biodiverse wetland regions in Africa.