The Conservator General of the National Park Service, Mr Ibrahim Goni, has said that Nigeria is losing over 300 hectares of forest reserve daily, identifying illegal logging and hunting as longstanding threats to forest conservation.

He hinted that the loss has accelerated desertification and worsened environmental degradation.

Goni stated this while receiving members of the Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria (EMCAN) who paid a courtesy visit to the service’s headquarters in Abuja, adding that sustained collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the media was necessary to expose trafficking networks and improve accountability.

To address the problem, he added, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had formed an inter-agency committee to combat illegal wildlife trafficking, resulting in the seizure of live animals, carcasses, and other wildlife specimens.

He emphasised that forest loss has raised environmental concerns beyond security and wildlife crimes, saying the expansion of Nigeria’s national park system was partly intended to restore degraded vegetation and strengthen the country’s response to climate change.

The National Park Service boss called for stronger collaboration with environmental journalists to expose illegal activities in Nigeria’s forests and protected areas, as insecurity, illegal mining and wildlife trafficking continue to pose challenges to conservation efforts.

He added that environmental journalists are strategic partners in the campaign to protect Nigeria’s natural resources and wildlife species, stressing that increased media attention would help bring conservation challenges to the forefront of public discourse and encourage action by relevant authorities.