Environmental management amidst energy use, urbanization, trade openness, and deforestation: The Nigerian experience

• Author: Festus Victor Bekun,Solomon Prince Nathaniel
• Date: 01 May 2020
• Published date: 01 May 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2037

ACADEMIC PAPER

Environmental management amidst energy use, urbanization,

trade openness, and deforestation: The Nigerian experience

Solomon Prince Nathaniel

1

| Festus Victor Bekun

2

1

Department of Economics, University of

Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria

2

Faculty of Economics Administrative and

Social Sciences, Istanbul Gelisim University,

Istanbul, Turkey

Correspondence

Solomon Prince Nathaniel, Department of

Economics, University of Lagos, Akoka,

Nigeria.

Email: nathaniel_solomon21@yahoo.com

This study empirically explores the linkage between urbanization and deforestation

while controlling for the role of energy consumption, trade openness, and economic

growth within recent data from 1971 to 2015. To do this, we employed the vector

error correction-Granger causality approach and Pesaran's autoregressive distributed

lag cointegration technique. The Bayer–Hanck cointegration test establishes an equi-

librium relationship among the variables. Results reveal that economic growth, energy

consumption, and urbanization have a significant impact on deforestation in Nigeria,

thereby reducing the quality of the environment. Short- and long-run unidirectional

casualty flows from urbanization to deforestation. Therefore, policies for reducing

deforestation and enhancing environmental sustainability for growth and develop-

ment were suggested.

1|INTRODUCTION

Nature does not need us. We actually need nature. For the past few

decades, the necessity for biological diversity to be maintained for

continued human existence has emerged as a critical global issue. The

need for conservation, management, and sustainable use of the

world's flora and fauna, as well as the environment, is a matter of

utmost importance. The importance of the environment to human

existence cannot be overemphasized. This position has been advo-

cated by the United Nations Convention on Climate Change alongside

the 2015 Paris Agreement as they implore countries to keep mean

temperature increase well below 2C by the end of the century. The

Agreement further commits countries to reduce the temperature rise

to below 1.5C so as to achieve minimum greenhouse gas emission in

2020. Unfortunately, the world depends on crude oil, natural gas, coal,

and fossil fuels whose reserves are finite (Bildirici & Özaksoy, 2016).

Biomass is an organic matter that is renewable over time. Wood

remains the largest biomass energy source. Wood constitutes about

87% of the total biomass energy, which includes forest residues, yard

clippings, wood chips, animal dung, sawdust, charcoal, and so forth.

Wood energy is achieved by using lignocellulosic biomass as fuel.

Both wood and wood-based products are used by businesses, house-

holds, and industries (Food and agricultural organization [FAO], 2010).

Nigeria is rich in biomass resources because it has a good environ-

ment and geography that supports the growth of almost all crops. The

country has kilometers of forest areas but is depleting them at a faster

rate than they are being created. Woody biomass energy consumption

in Nigeria has expanded rapidly over the years. Saad and Bugaje

(2016) attributed this expansion to poverty, availability and cost, and

cultural factors. No matter where we live, the forests make our life

possible. Forests are a key source of biodiversity, and when a forest is

lost anywhere, people feel it everywhere.

The deforestation rate in Nigeria is accelerating. The resilience of

the ecosystem has diminished due to overgrazing and poor land ten-

ure system. Deforestation has implication for desertification. Nigeria

lost about 409,700 ha of forest every year between 1990 and 2005

(FAO, 2005). This keeps the annual deforestation rate at 2.38% and

35.7% of forest cover lost. Nigeria's forest cover is less than 6%,

which is far below the 26% recommended by Food and Agricultural

Organization. The deforestation rate in Nigeria was the highest in the

world in 2005 (FAO, 2005). This statistic represents a danger for the

nation and stakeholders alike. Ibrahim, Iheanacho, and Bila (2015)

attributed the causes of deforestation in Nigeria to fuelwood con-

sumption, forest product for export, round wood consumption, and

area of food crop production. Nigeria's economy has growth potential

given its antecedent in the last decades. The country's openness to

trade has been greeted with an increase in energy demand. However,

all these have a negative impact on the environment.

Nigeria's economy relies on agriculture and, to a large extent, on

crude oil (Okunolа, Nathaniel, & Festus, 2018). Urbanization has also

Received: 9 September 2019 Revised: 21 September 2019 Accepted: 7 October 2019

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2037

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