Obiabin Onukwugha
Worsening youth unemployment and climate-induced livelihood pressures are driving rapid and unsustainable deforestation in Odual and Okolomade communities of Rivers State, where young people increasingly rely on felling trees as their only means of survival.
Across the two communities, chainsaws now ring from morning to evening as young men cut down both mature and immature trees, abandoning long-standing conservation rules that once protected the forest.
Locals say vast tracts of land once rich with diverse plant and animal species have been stripped bare, with edible and medicinal trees—from breadfruit to species used for treating malaria and typhoid—rapidly disappearing.
Twenty-two-year-old Enaanasebhaami Mark, who hoped to study welding at a university, said poverty and lack of opportunities forced him into tree-cutting, which he has now done for over a year.
His friend, 23-year-old Bright Joseph, who lost his father early and has been unable to pursue higher education due to lack of funds, said logging is the only income-generating option available to young men in Okolomade.
Community members say the collapse of traditional forest-use regulations has accelerated forest depletion.
Trees that were once cut only when their trunks were too large for an adult’s arms to reach around are now felled even when still small, producing undersized planks measuring just two by eight inches instead of the much larger dimensions previously obtained from mature trees.
Despite prohibitions on cutting economically important species such as African oil bean and ogbono, residents report widespread harvesting of timber trees including iroko, mahogany, cotton, abura, afara, and others, with logs sawn directly in the forest instead of being transported to approved mills as required by law.
Local leaders admit losing control, saying they cannot stop the young men because unemployment, recurrent flooding, and economic hardship have left them with no alternative livelihoods.
Former youth leader Osebhenaan Micah warned that banning logging without offering opportunities may push young people into crime, noting that the community has very few government-employed residents despite many graduates.
The Community Development Committee chairman, Patrick David, added that years of flooding have destroyed farms, indirectly increasing pressure on the forest as young people turn to tree-felling for income.
Experts say the situation in Odual and Okolomade reflects Nigeria’s broader forest crisis.
Global Forest Watch data shows that 96% of tree-cover loss nationwide since 2001 has been driven by human activity.
Rivers State alone lost more than 2,000 hectares of natural forest between 2020 and 2024, emitting about 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
A senior official at the Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, speaking anonymously, blamed government neglect for the failure to enforce forest laws, noting that the state has no active forest guards and that reserved forests once managed to protect biodiversity are now unmonitored.
The official warned that most timber sold in markets is now undersized, violating legal girth requirements, and stressed that communities have taken control of forest resources in the absence of government oversight.
With unemployment rising, climate impacts worsening, and forest governance collapsing, Odual and Okolomade face an escalating ecological crisis that threatens biodiversity, carbon storage, and the long-term sustainability of community livelihoods.
