The now very popular sambisa
forest located at northeastern Nigeria has land mass area of 60,000 square
kilometers with forest trees and bushes that stretches along Borno, Yobe,
Gombe, Bauchi and some part of Darzo, Jigawa and even Kano State [1]. The
forest name originates from the village of Sambisa which is on the border with
Gwoza in the East [1]. It is also established that the forest stretches from Gwoza
via its mountains to Cameron. The forest is drained by seasonal streams into
the Yedseram
and the Ngadda Rivers and the climate is hot, wet and dry
with minimum temperatures of about 21.5 °C between December and March, a
maximum of about 48 °C in May and average temperatures of about
28-29 °C throughout the year [1-2]. The dry season is from November to May
and the wet season is between May and September/October with annual rainfall of
about 170-190 mm. Sambisa typically has a Sudanian savanna vegetation; however,
deforestation and other human activities to nature has depleted the forest and it’s
more like a Sahel savanna forest with lots of open woodland and some sections
with thick or dense vegetation of about 2 meters high trees and thorny bushes
making it impossible for free penetration [2]. Some trees such as rubber, date
palm, acacia trees, tallow etc. has been identified in the forest and the
forest is a home to many species of birds. 17 species of mammals were reported
in 2010 in the Sambisa Forest including, baboon,
patas monkey,
tantalus
monkey, Grimm's duiker, red-fronted gazelle, African bush elephant, roan antelope,
hartebeest,
African
leopard and spotted hyenas [3-4]. However, deforestation,
terrorist activities has reduced these animals and even trying to extinct them
permanently.
Sambisa forest is a game reserve
usually a center destination for foreign tourist on holidays in the 70’s. It
had a large population of leopards, lions, elephants, hyenas, that tourists
could observe from cabins or safari lodges. In 1991, the government of the
state of Borno incorporated this reserve into the national park of the Chad
Basin. However, mismanagement, greater focus on crude oil and total abandonment
followed the Sambisa takeover by Boko Haram insurgents in February 2013 [3].
This led to the gradual disappearance of animals, massive collapse of lodges or
destructions by the sect, vegetation invaded roads, and rivers dried up.
However, before the April
general elections in Nigeria, Nigerian military launched an offensive and
repelled the Boko haram forces thereby securing Sambisa and also, rescuing many
kidnapped citizen of Nigeria by Boko haram sect [5].
The worry here is the
disappearance of the vegetation and the trees, caused by human activities. Since
the forest has been captured by the Nigerian military, it is now eminent that
the Nigeria government should as a matter of urgency attract investors or
partner with investors or invest in rebuilding sambisa. A plausible way is to
start with demining the whole forest and planting energy trees that can be
utilized to power the whole of Northeast in the years to come while maintain
the forest as a game reserve.
“On
June 16, 2009, the Swedish Parliament approved the Government’s new energy and
climate strategy, described as Europe’s most ambitious strategy to improve
energy efficiency and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Swedish government aims
by 2020 for renewable energy to comprise 50% of all energy produced, for the
Swedish car fleet to be independent of fossil fuels 10 years later and for the country
to be carbon neutral by 2050”…….. Bettina Dahlbacka
Already in Sweden electricity is
completely free of fossil sources and car exhaust emission formerly computed to
be about 30% of total emission of greenhouse gases in Sweden has been largely
reduced recently by utilizing ethanol based fuels generated mainly from
cereals, wheat and waste from pulp or paper industries. However, these sources
of biomass are meant for countries with enough food security and at this stage,
it may not be very efficient for Nigeria as a country where an average citizen
is living below a dollar per day. However, Sambisa is a suitable land for pine
trees and has been considered as the next generational ethanol plant substitute.
The benefits of this project for the northeast are: Total control of sambisa
regained fully for economic purposes, planting of trees capable of generating
electricity and even fuel for cars in a sustainable way, Northeast will be the
first to have electricity and power their cars from a renewable source, paper
and pulp industries will flourish as raw materials can be sourced from the
trees in Sambisa, employment estimated at about 300,000 will be available
through the game reserve, bio-fuel plant manufacturing and refining, pulp and
paper industries and so on. Finally, carbon foot prints and greenhouse gases
will be minimized.
References
1. Kayode, Bodumin (27 April 2014) "Sambisa: Forest of a thousand myths", thenationonlineng.net; retrieved
29 April 2015.
2. Kayode, Bodunrin (29 April 2014). "Inside Nigeria's Sambisa Forest". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
3. Mbaya, Y.P. and Malgwi, H. (March
2010) “Species list and status of Mammals and Birds in
Sambisa game reserve, Borno State, Nigeria” Journal of Research in Forestry, Wildlife and Environment,
Vol 2, no 1, p. 135.
4.
Omondi, P., et al, (6 July 2006) “Total Aerial
Count of Elephants and other Wildlife Species in Sambisa Game Reserve in Borno
State, Nigeria per MIKE” (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of
Elephants) Program (cites.org); retrieved 3 April 2015.
5.
(2 May 2015) Boko Haram: Nigerian army frees
another 234 women and children, BBC News, Africa; retrieved 2 May
2015.
