Charcoal is used as fuel in cooking for household, large food consumption and also in some industries especially those involved in casting bronze and other metals. It can be produced year round which involves woodland exploitation that contributes to deforestation with various negative consequences like loss of valuable resources and environment, drives climate change through the release of greenhouse gases, it also reduces the bio-productivity of ecosystems by disrupting the habitats of thousands of species, transforms forest lands into barren deserts and exposes bare surfaces which are susceptible to soil erosion, thus making the entire ecosystem unstable. These are among the major threats to forest reserves and contributes highly to deforestation with 0.038 hectare of savanna woodland depleted for production of a single 15 kg capacity bag of charcoal in the study area and this had led to forest degradation which 96.2% of the respondents attested. The study was to determine the impacts of charcoal production to the forest reserves and also the public perceptions of the environmental effect of unplanned cutting of tree for Charcoal Production and it recommended awareness, prudent forest management and getting involve the private sectors, combined with proactive actions and policies.
Palm wine is an alcoholic drink obtained by the natural fermentation of the sap of various type of palm trees, it produced and consumed in various part of the country and beyond. This rich beverage is been used for different traditional practices not only for occasional consumption, so it is of high demand product. The tapping process starts from traditional dealers known as Palm Wine Tappers, that climbs to the top most part of the palm trees, cut it open from the side or middle, or cut down the tree for the liquid sap and this produces lactic-alcoholic-acetic fermentation that is conducted by the lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeast and acetic acid bacteria (AAB). The tapping process practiced in difference part of the country are; burning/falling, pruning and trimming. They poses a threat to palm trees that serves other environmental, economic, health and nutritional benefits to human and the ecosystem. This practice renders high number of palm trees less productive or dead in a society with no food security, shaky economy, poor environmental practice/awareness and tree planting habit. Due to high demand for the product, 4 out of 10 palm trees are been converted to palm wine production source, this implies that the palm tree can not produce palm fruit that is more of high economic benefits and also contributes to the shortage of palm tree lifespan that serves as a good absorbent of carbon and gives out oxygen through photosynthesis process, a measure that adds value to living organism and reduces warming of the environment. This study recommends proper public awareness especially to the people involve in the trade “Palm Wine Tappers” and introduction of more sustainable way of tapping, monitoring and emphasis on tree planting.
Flood remains one of the most common natural disasters. Its rate of occurrence and the associated destructive tendency are on a rising scale across the globe. Flood risk may increase due to human activities. It could also decrease by appropriate flood management and planning. However, this requires upgraded and newly generated reliable and up to date floodplain and flood vulnerability maps. Hence, this study analysed the Niger-Benue river flood risk and vulnerability of 256 communities in Kogi State. The aim is to generate reliable up to date flood vulnerability maps that categorises the communities into different vulnerability zones and identify likely locations for erecting flood shelter/refugee camps during flood events in the State. Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (STRM) Digital Elevation Datasets, the spatial location of 256 communities, shapefiles of Kogi State’s administrative boundaries and Niger-Benue river basin were among the datasets acquired for the study. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the study area was created to depict topography and the heights of each component of the terrain. Also, a 3km buffer distance was created around the Niger-Benue river and four vulnerability zones were defined based on the terrain and proximity components of each community. Furthermore, choropleth maps were generated for each vulnerability zone based on the number of communities per Local Government Area (LGA). Findings of this study revealed that out of the 256 sampled communities, 161 representing 62.89% are exposed to varying degrees of vulnerability due to Niger-Benue flooding. Out of these, 33 (12.89%) are highly vulnerable, whereas each of the vulnerable (64) and marginally vulnerable (64) communities accounted for 25%. The rest 37.11% constituted the not vulnerable communities (95). Out of the highly vulnerable communities, 27.27% accounted for those located on river banks and 72.73% for those located within a 3km distance from the river. The majority of the riverbank communities were found in Kogi, Lokoja and Ajaokuta LGAs. Igalamela Odolu, Kogi, Ofu and Bassa were among the LGAs with a high number of vulnerable communities. The not vulnerable communities were mostly located around the Agbaja Plateau and Okoro-Agbo hills in Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu and Yaba East LGAs. It was concluded that the 9 communities (Ajaokuta, Eroko, Iche, Jamata, Numai, Okume, Agodo, Denbor and Gunji Twaki) located on river banks are exposed to the highest level of flood risk and invariably, the devastating impact of flood in Kogi State. Most communities in Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu and Yaba West LGAs are less likely to be affected by Niger-Benue River flooding. It is therefore recommended that communities within the highly vulnerable zones, beginning with the 9 located on river banks should be relocated to higher terrains. Also, future settlement development should be discouraged in the zone by the collaborative efforts of the State and LGA authorities. Further studies should be conducted around Ijumu LGA in view of identifying the most suitable locations for possible flood shelter/refugee camp development in the study area.
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