Keywords

1 Introduction

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, the sustainable management of forests, and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) is an initiative of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).Footnote 1 Forest preservation and management is the crux of the REDD+ campaign because next to the energy sector, deforestation and forest degradation contribute the largest to greenhouse emission.Footnote 2 The REDD+ initiative encourages conservation and includes compensation for lowering greenhouse emissions.Footnote 3

Nigeria is one of the developing nations involved in the REDD+ agenda and thus far, progress has been made.Footnote 4 Cross River State was selected as the pilot state in the planning and implementation of the REDD+ agenda, paving the way for other states to follow suit.Footnote 5 The idea of extending the REDD+ agenda to other states within the country is a wheel in the right direction.Footnote 6 However, there are many setbacks to its successful implementation. These include, urban expansion, infrastructural development, mining and oil explorations, charcoal production, animal grazing and other agricultural activities, among other socio-political challenges.Footnote 7 There are also socio-political factors such as gaps in the relevant laws, criminal activities such as illegal wood logging,Footnote 8 kidnapping and terrorism, which have contributed to the loss of forest resources in Nigeria.Footnote 9 The government in the past few years has battled with insecurity issues in the country as criminals use the forest as hideouts.Footnote 10 Illegal sale of woods, construction of shelter as hideouts, and destruction of forest environment by weapons of war, amongst other criminal activities, pose an enormous threat to the preservation of forest resources in Nigeria.Footnote 11 This chapter examines key developments in relation to the implementation of REDD+ in the context of how existing legal framework relating to key rights of forest dependent populations and crimes may apply in Nigeria.

2 Implementing REDD+ and Projected Benefits

Nigeria has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, with more than half of its forest lands destroyed.Footnote 12 The REDD+ initiative commenced in Nigeria with Cross River State as the pilot state in 2009, with the view of addressing this trend and contribute to global efforts in mitigating climate changeFootnote 13 Cross River State was chosen as the pilot state because it has the largest expanse of forest reserve in Nigeria, which has been threatened by the high level of exploitation by drivers of deforestation.Footnote 14 The Cross River State government showed interest and willingness to introduce the REDD+ initiative because of its win-win approach.Footnote 15 The introduction of the REDD+ initiative is to generate financial support in the preservation and management of forest resources and improve the standard of living by providing environmentally sustainable practices for the local community who depend on the forest.Footnote 16 One of the visions of Conference of Parties (COP) for the REDD+ initiative is to ensure that all forest management stakeholders are involved, especially, the local community where the REDD+ project is being executed. It is mandated that any developing country embarking on the REDD+ project must provide evidence that the local community is carried along and no form of human right violation is involved in the implementation of the REDD+ goals.Footnote 17 Hence, REDD+ is conceived as a tool of climate mitigation within which the interests and benefits of local populations should enjoin substantial consideration.

At the planning stage which is the first step in integrating the REDD+ goals in Nigeria, stakeholders were consulted, a target location was also identified,Footnote 18 while the department of climate change under the Federal Ministry of Environment in Nigeria was saddled with the responsibility of implementation.Footnote 19 However, deforestation is still a major challenge because of the fast growing demand for agricultural produce in the country.Footnote 20 Apart from the energy sector, the agricultural sector plays a significant role in the economy of Nigeria, which unfortunately is a key driver of forest degradation.Footnote 21 Other drivers of deforestation include overpopulation, infrastructural development, forest crimes, poverty, and urban movement.Footnote 22 Overpopulation leads to a higher demand for food, electricity, and shelter, which indirectly affects land use and forests.Footnote 23 Urbanisation leads to infrastructural development and expansion. The government responds to the socio-economic needs of its citizens by expanding the various means of transportation, new roads, airports, railways to better serve the citizens.Footnote 24 Low standard of living contributes to the high reliance on forest resources leading to deforestation and forest degradation.Footnote 25 About half of the Nigerian population lives below the average standard of living and cannot afford to use environmentally friendly technologies to survive.Footnote 26 They rely on forest resources for their livelihood.Footnote 27

An effective implementation of REDD+ is dependent on the protection of the populations who are dependent on forests for livelihood and the safety of the forests for live sustaining activities. The extent to which these are recognised in the implementation of REDD+ in Nigeria is the focus of the next section.

3 Factors Inhibiting REDD+

This section of the chapter discusses salient issues that are impeding the successful execution of the REDD+ initiative in Nigeria. Generally, concerns have been raised regarding the violation of rights of local populations in the context of REDD+.Footnote 28 In addition, the high level of insecurity in Nigeria, and the use of forest areas to perpetuate crime may affect the Nigerian government’s plans in conserving and managing what is left of Nigeria’s forests. The ensuing sections engage with these issues.

3.1 Local Populations’ Rights

The REDD+ initiative was borne out of good intention to mitigate the high level of green gas emission into the atmosphere with its focus on developing countries. REDD+ programme is, however, implemented in developing countries where large populations live below the average standard of living, rely extensively on forest resources to survive and suffer weak land laws that are not favourable to the local communities.Footnote 29 Nigeria is a developing nation and report shows that a large percentage of its populations live in poverty and depend on forest resources to provide food, shelter and other domestic items,Footnote 30 and in rural areas surrounded by forests.Footnote 31 Implementing the REDD+ initiative would require the government to respect the right of communities to the use of forest resources which they depend on. Ignoring the interests of such populations to explore specific lands raises the issue of violation of citizen’s right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria, under Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended (the Constitution). The enjoyment of this right may be trumped by the application of Section 44 of the Constitution which provides instances and the process in which the government may acquire land already owned by citizens. Section 44(2) (f) of the Constitution specifically gives the government the right to take over land where the safety of humans, plants or animals is being threatened. The revocation of the right to land of those who depend on forest resources for their means of livelihood without proper compensation, may not only violate their rights to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria, but ultimately undermine their rights to life.Footnote 32

The possibility of displacing local populations or forest dependent communities is real in the context of REDD+ as there is evidence of such approach in previous projects unrelated to forests. For instance, the Nigerian government has been accused in many cases of taking over land without adequately compensating the communities affected while creating the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ),Footnote 33 The communities affected were promised alternative land for their use but for many years the government failed to properly settle them.Footnote 34 In the course of demanding for compensation to be made by the Lagos state government and the developers of the repossessed land, conflict arose resulting in the loss of life of one of the key players of the acquiring company.Footnote 35 Earlier, when the military government took over power in 1985, it repossessed the land of a community in Shangisha Magodo on the ground of public interest, but did not develop the public interest project, for which it was set aside.Footnote 36 The affected communities were not adequately compensated. The aggrieved parties took the matter to the court of law, and judgement was given in their favour, over 30 years later.Footnote 37 The issues of Nigerian state government acquisition of land, is not only a problem in Lagos state, reports show that communities in other states have faced similar issues.Footnote 38 As a result of the above trend, the possibility of dispossessing communities of their land in a bid to ensure REDD+ project raises a very huge concern.

3.2 Forest Crimes as a Challenge

Under Section 1 of the Land Use Act (LUA), all land including forests within a state is under the control of the government. By implication, the Nigerian state governments are saddled with the responsibility to put the necessary machineries in place to ensure that the forest areas within their states are preserved and secured. Many of these forests were originally reserved by the Nigerian government as national parks and game reserves and conservation centres; however, for many years these forests were not managed properly resulting in such areas being ungoverned.Footnote 39 It is argued that ungoverned areas are likely targets for insurgent takeovers and criminal activities, and this is a regular feature in Nigeria forests.Footnote 40 Forest resources which have contributed to the wealth and means of livelihood for people in Nigeria are currently the ‘safe haven’ for insurgent groups, criminal herdsmen, armed robbers, drug dealer and kidnappers.Footnote 41 Forests are used as shelter, hideouts, and detention camps for kidnapped victims by nefarious individuals and entities. A major reason that criminal activities have thrived in forests is the lack of security presence and neglect of forest areas by the state governments.Footnote 42 The forest guards who are meant to protect the forests are very few and ill-equipped to fight these non-state criminal actors who have taken over the forests and many have retired without new members being recruited, thereby resulting in shortage of staff.Footnote 43 The invasion of the forests by criminals is a problem ravaging the six geo-political zones in Nigeria which has led to loss of lives, property, displacement of communities living near these forest areas, deforestation and forest degradation.Footnote 44 Many of the forests in Northern Nigeria such as Sambisa, Birnin Gwari, Balmo, Falgore, Kabakawa forest reserves, Idu and Gwagwa forest reserves, Kagoro, Kamuku and Rumah/Kukar Jangarai forest reserves, have been at some point occupied by the Boko Haram insurgent group, cattle rustlers, criminal herdsmen and other criminal gangs that have taken advantage of the high insecurity in the region.Footnote 45 The deplorable state of security in Nigeria and the high rate of crime experienced by those who live around affected forests, led to the meeting of state governors in the South-South, South-West and South-East to discuss immediate solutions for their different states.Footnote 46

The insurgent groups and other criminals take advantage of the fact that the forests are very vast and state security does not have sufficient data on the demography of the terrain.Footnote 47 It has become very difficult for the government to tackle suspected criminals who over the years have mastered the terrains of the forest and lay ambush for security personnels who venture into the forest to chase them out.Footnote 48 The presence of suspected criminals in the forest has great adverse effect on the forest reserves. Deforestation activities are carried out to expose these criminal hideouts and camps.Footnote 49 Deforestation becomes a repeated cycle because forest crime suspects from time to time have to change location in the forest due to the hot pursuit by state security personnel. Forest resources are exploited to fund insurgency and other criminal activities in the forests through illegal wood logging, open grazing of abducted cattle’s obtained from cattle rustling activities, clearing of land to grow illegal marijuana and cannabis.Footnote 50 In some instances, the government is forced to engage in deforestation activities and degazetting of forest reserve to expose the hideouts.Footnote 51 Deforestation has been suggested to be a method of discouraging suspected criminals lurking in the forest while further suggestions have been made to the government to establish Nigerian Army stations in these forests.Footnote 52 The above suggestion of clearing out a part of the forest areas, may appear logical to combat the insecurity ravaging the nation, however, the environmental implications will be very grave in the long run. The high prevalence of forest crimes in Nigeria raises concern on a number of human right issues such as right to life,Footnote 53 right to dignity of human persons,Footnote 54 right to personal libertyFootnote 55 amongst other rights. As a result of the criminal activities being perpetuated in that sector, many lives are being lost.Footnote 56 There are reports of the inhuman treatments experienced by the captives of kidnappers and bandits.Footnote 57 Victims of forest crimes are tortured, raped, married-off, or sold as slaves.Footnote 58 Furthermore, forest crimes have caused a setback in the efforts of the Nigerian government to ensure its reduction in carbon emissions and preservation of the already depleted forests.

With the current high rate of forest crimes in all regions in Nigeria, the implementation of the REDD+ initiative has been a huge task. Not only due to the persistent degradation of the forest reserve but also due to the insecurity for stakeholders who will need to venture into the forest at intervals to assess compliance with the REDD+ vision. One of the objectives of REDD+ is the participation of the local community members in the implementation of its initiative, however, many of these communities have been displaced because of the incessant raids, kidnapping, and killing of their people by the insurgency groups and other criminal groups.Footnote 59 Nigerian government officials struggle to navigate through the forests without the help of the local people who are familiar with the terrain.Footnote 60

4 Legal Framework on REDD+

This section examines the adequacy or otherwise of the existing legal framework for the protection of populations in the implementation of REDD+ Project. Before venturing to the discussion of the legal framework, it is important to note from the onset of the discussion that there are key institutions established by relevant laws that have role in the implementation of REDD+. Pursuant to the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution, a number of bodies have been established with mandates on the protection of the environment. For instance, the National Environmental Standard and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA)Footnote 61 was established under Federal Ministry of the Environment to replace the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA). NESREA is empowered to enforce compliance with the provisions of international agreements, protocol, conventions, and treaties on environment.Footnote 62 NESREA has the duty to protect and develop the environment, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development of Nigeria’s natural resources and environmental technology.Footnote 63 NESREA is anticipated to implement the environmental standards covering water quality, air quality, noise control and atmospheric protection.Footnote 64 NESREA also has authority to conduct public investigations on pollution and the degradation of natural resources and to submit proposals for the evolution and review of existing guidelines, regulations and standards on the environment to the Minister of the Environment for approval.Footnote 65 The law further enables the agency to serve as mobile court for environmental defaulter.Footnote 66 It provides the legal framework for REDD+ to work with as it has been empowered by Sections 7 & 8 of the NESREA Act to oversee matters relating to the preservation of the environment and enforcement against defaulters. However, the foreseeable problem that can impede the successful implementation of the REDD+ initiative is in the enforcement of the provisions of the NESREA Act. The Act is weak in terms of enforcement. For instance, Section 26 of the Act provides that ‘a person who violates the regulations commits an offence and shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding N200,00, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, for individuals, and N1,000,000 fine, for corporate institutions’. This is an avenue for the corporate institutions to violate environmental law with impunity, as they can easily afford to do so in pursuit on activities that recklessly deplete environmental resources.

The Climate Change Act (CCA) provides for the basis of climate action to achieve Nigeria’s short, medium, and long-term goals on climate mitigation and adaptation. Mostly applicable are the duties placed on public and private entities to encourage low carbon economy and sustainable livelihood, as well as the responsibility of the Council and its Secretariat to partner with relevant stakeholders, especially civil society organisations.Footnote 67 The Council is empowered to implement nature-based solutions to lessening GHG emissions and mitigating climate change matter in Nigeria.Footnote 68 The Federal Ministry responsible for the environment is required to set up a registry with sub-national nodes for capturing REDD+ activities in Nigeria.Footnote 69 Section 28 of CCA recognises REDD+ as it requires the National Council on Climate Change to offer fiscal support to REDD+. The CCA is, however, still new and it is not certain what the application of fiscal support may mean for populations in forests where REDD+ is implemented.

4.1 Constitutional Framework

In Nigeria there is no treaty between other countries and the federation that would be enforced without first being passed into law by the National Assembly.Footnote 70 Therefore without the legislative arm of government consolidating its current laws on forestry and the environment and if need be, creating new laws to align with the REDD+ initiative, and ultimately the Paris Agreement of 2015 in which Nigeria is a signatory, relevant treaties on REDD+ may not have the force of law.Footnote 71 The state provides for the protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of Nigeria’s water, air, land, forest and wildlife,Footnote 72 under Chapter II of the Constitution which are not legally enforceable in the event that the government fails to adhere.Footnote 73 Section 6(6)(c) restricts judicial authorities from entertaining issues relating to Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy set out in Chapter II of the Constitution. The provision is no substitute for the right of local population to reside in a healthy forest as there is no constitutional guarantee on the right to healthy environment. Except for the environmental objectives which are explicitly stated and constitutional measures which are provided for their legal sanction, it is problematic to achieve the objectives of the state on the protection of the interests of populations who are forest dependents.Footnote 74

Section 34 of the Constitution confers the right to dignity of human person. The provision is highly significant in that it presupposes that the dignity of forest dependent populations ought to be a primary consideration in the implementation of REDD+. Section 20 of the Constitution provides that the government must ‘protect and improve’ the environment and makes further provision to ‘safeguard’ the forests in Nigeria. It is opined that forest crimes are a threat to the right of population to life and their socio-economic livelihood. Nigeria is a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right 1981 (African Charter), which guarantees everyone the right to a favourable environment for existence. While it is not yet tested in relation to the protection of forests, the special nature of the African Charter is acknowledged in the popular case of Gani Fawehinmi v Abacha.Footnote 75

4.2 Legislative and Policy Framework

While there is a dedicated policy on forestry, the legal environment of REDD+ remains fragmented. An effective implementation of the initiative will require the harmonisation of the forestry content in the existing framework to enable local populations optimise their benefits from REDD+ in Nigeria. A number of legislation and policies are applicable to the governance of REDD+ in Nigeria. These are the Land Use Act,Footnote 76 National Forest Policy,Footnote 77 and National Environmental (Desertification Control and Drought Mitigation,Footnote 78 National Environment (Bush/Forest Fire and Opening burning),Footnote 79 Climate Change Act,Footnote 80 National Park Service Act,Footnote 81 Environment Impact Assessment Act,Footnote 82 Nigeria’s Agricultural Promotion Policy.Footnote 83

The provisions of the Land Use Act (LUA) are sometimes used as the tool in depriving members of communities of their lands.Footnote 84 There are instances whereby the right to land may be bypassed without compensation on the ground of public interest.Footnote 85 A site-based project such as REDD+ may involve the revocation of right to land in the interest of the public and raise violation of fundamental human right concerns because of past experiences of populations affected by government sponsored projects. Also under the LUA which governs ownership and possession of lands, all legal rights to lands in Nigeria are vested in the states government.Footnote 86 However, before the enactment of the LUA , there was the customary land law in different regions of Nigeria that guided people on ownership and possession of lands in their communities.Footnote 87 The customary land law enables individuals, families and communities to own land.Footnote 88 These laws are recognised under Section 28 of LUA which does not only cover revocation of a statutory right of occupancy, but also a customary right of occupancy.Footnote 89 From the provision it can be inferred that it is not impossible for the government to revoke the customary right of occupancy of land of those occupying forest areas in the interest of the Public. In the case of Aderonpe v Eleran,Footnote 90 the Supreme Court held that the government empowered by Section 28 has the power to revoke a person’s legal right to possess land in the interest of the public. Consequently, it may be argued that the Nigerian government have the right to acquire lands occupied by communities residing in forest areas in the interest of preserving forest reserves and ultimately creating a healthier environment. Under Section 28 of the LUA, there is no clear definition of public purpose. The lack of a definition has given the government the liberty to acquire lands at will.

Section 29 of the LUA provides that the government must compensate affected communities whose right to land has been revoked.Footnote 91 Section 29 of the LUA has the backing of the Constitution in Section 44 which provides that anyone who has interest in immovable property must be compensated.Footnote 92 A striking statement used in Section 44 (1) (a) is …prompt payment of compensation, which in reality, is never the case.Footnote 93 The provisions of the LUA are sometimes used as the tool in depriving members of communities of their lands.Footnote 94 It provides that any person whose right of possession has been revoked is entitled to the market value of the interest taking as at the date of revocation.Footnote 95 This provision does great disservice to persons whose interest in land has being revoked by the government, because of the delay in compensation.Footnote 96 REDD+ communities value forest use rights, because households or communities can benefit from having forest use rights in their areas, as it can provide incentives for them to protect forests and help to stop encroachment. However, Nigeria’s REDD+ is organised around strict protection of forest by the state.Footnote 97 Rights of forest dependent populations cannot be achieved where the ownership of such resources largely rests in the state as the custodian and regulators of forest resources.

The National Forest Policy of 2006 facilitates and ensures conservation of the forests.Footnote 98 The implementation of this policy was influenced by the awareness that poor management of forest and forest resources can result in an increase of the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, consequently causing increased global warming and climate change.Footnote 99 The National Forestry Policy (the Policy) encourages forest communities as stakeholders with the distinguished forest management efforts just like the new Cross River State forestry law.Footnote 100 The Policy covers issues such as livelihood and lessening poverty, food security, biodiversity conservation and environmental services.Footnote 101 There is the National Forestry Action Programme (NFAP) adopted by the Policy which ensures the long-term sustainability and protection of forest management, while promoting collaborative and participatory development process, propelling private sector forestry development, including implementing an organised approach to forestry development. Programmes of forest industries, social forestry and forest management, promote Nigeria’s forest cover growth for the varying climate mitigation and adaptation.Footnote 102

The Regulations on Desertification Control and Drought Mitigation is aimed at creating an effective and practical regulatory framework for the sustainable use of all areas affected by desertification and the protection of susceptible lands,Footnote 103 through reforestation, reseeding, afforestation, conservation of areas under desertification or vulnerable to same, and rehabilitation of degraded lands.Footnote 104 The Regulations on Desertification Control and Drought Mitigation, however, provides for the felling of trees or cutting of branches, land clearing, earth disturbing activities, bush burning, grazing, cultivation of marginal land, amongst other degrading activities, with a permit,Footnote 105 and prescribes penalties for violation.Footnote 106 The provision of the law raises a big concern, due to the high level of poverty among forest dependent communities.Footnote 107 It seems unfair and a violation of the human rights of those affected, if alternative means of surviving are not provided.

The National Environmental (Control of Bush, Forest Fire and Open Burning) Regulations, 2011 (NECBFO), aims at ‘preventing and minimising the destruction of ecosystem through fire outbreak and burning of any material that may affect the health of the ecosystem through the emission of hazardous air pollutants’.Footnote 108 Bush/forest burning and farmland clearing are some of the agricultural practices engaged in by farmers and hunters, and are known causes of forest degradation and deforestation in Nigeria.Footnote 109 The instrument appears to have provided for better ways of burning bush/forest (with permit),Footnote 110 although there are penalties for noncompliance.Footnote 111 NESREA is the agency given the mandate to enforce the provisions of NECBFO as its focus aligns with an objective of the REDD+ initiatives on forest degradation and deforestation. Section 20 of NECBFO mandates an enforcement officer to make a report of all bush or forest burning incidences in the jurisdiction and transmit to the NESREA headquarters. However, there is no evidence of such linkage in Nigeria.

Section 28 of CCA provides the legal backing of the Nigerian government in the REDD+, therefore giving the initiative the legitimacy it needs to thrive in Nigeria. The enactment of the CCA appears to be a response of the state to climate change. It has been adjudged as a huge response in fighting the global effects of climate change. Also, the enactment of the CCA may have the potential to achieve the REDD+ initiative to mitigate the effect of climate change on our environment.Footnote 112 However, its few provisions on REDD+ need more amplification to set out its relevance to local populations.

National Park Service Act (NPSA) aims at sustainable wildlife management as it sets the restrictions for protection and use of wild animals.Footnote 113 Park officials must have knowledge about laws regarding the park and the wild resources it holds because they have the duty to protect the parks’ wild resources. Since park officials were previously poachers or rural dwellers of host communities having little or no formal education, it is essential to educate them on the existing conservation/wildlife laws.Footnote 114 National Park Services Act (NPSA) makes provision for the conservation and protection of natural resources and plants in national parks.Footnote 115 Report states that the national parks in Nigeria are being exploited by surrounding communities and other criminals, who use the resources in the parks for their own gain.Footnote 116 Illegal wood logging activities are a regular rive in these national parks.Footnote 117 The NPSA provides a legal framework for the preservation of Nigeria’s national park, however, in reality, the law does not serve as a deterrence to its exploiters. The national parks are reported to be mismanaged due to lack of funding to better equip staff to protect the resources from exploiters.Footnote 118 Also, remuneration of staff at national parks is too low to encourage diligence in the work, therefore yielding little or no enforcement of the law.Footnote 119 The penalties in Section 37 of the NPSA is also weak to deter natural persons or corporate bodies from exploiting national park resources. The proper management of the national parks can generate income not only for the parks, but the communities living around it. The safeguarding of the national parks is one of the key interests of REDD+, as one of its financial incentives is that a participating country that has successfully implemented REDD+ objectives, is able to trade its carbon stock.Footnote 120 Similar to the objects of NPSA, it is the goal of the REDD+ initiative to improve the lives of communities that rely on forest resources, by introducing more sustainable environmental practices and educate them on the climate change and its effect on quality of life.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act is a recognised instrument of environmental law and policy intended to safeguard human activities that will cause adverse environmental impacts.Footnote 121 EIA Act and its related policies tend to emphasise the impacts of plans/projects on the environment without examining the impacts of the environment on proposed plans/projects.Footnote 122 EIA Act is usually utilised for projects and activities with capacity or potential to cause environmental impacts within the boundaries of a state, but environmental impact of projects are not limited to the boundaries of a state. It can go beyond the boundaries of an independent state to affect another state and when this happens it becomes trans-boundary environmental impact.Footnote 123 The main goal of the EIA Act is to ensure that possible environmental impacts are foreseen at the proper stage of project design and tackled before any decision is taken on the project.Footnote 124 The importance of EIA was endorsed in Baytide Nigeria Limited v Aderinokun & Ors., where an issue raised by the respondent at the trial court was whether the claimant complied with the EIA Act while obtaining its approval to build a petrol station.Footnote 125 Section 12(1) of the EIA Act provides that agricultural projects covering more than a land mass of 500 hectares or displaces more than 100 households require an environmental impact assessment. Section 7 of the EIA Act envisages multi-stakeholder inputs for EIAs, giving room for stakeholder comments whilst Section 24 prescribes that the public will be notified of the availability of the report, and where it may be obtained.Footnote 126 The requirement of the EIA for projects that may heavily impact the environment serves as a legal tool to ensure that both government and its citizens maintain a healthy environment. If applied in the context of REDD+, there should be little or no doubt that illegal logging and other industrial projects which negatively impact on the forests may be preventable through the agency of EIA. However, the reality that activities which negatively impact forests continue signifies that the potentials in the EIA Act for forests conservation are not being maximised.

Nigeria Agricultural Promotion Policy (NAPP) is a policy intervention scheme for the agricultural sector. The policy is placed to increase the input and output to enhance the market of agriculture both locally and internationally.Footnote 127 The policy is governed by commitment of marketplace participants, farmers, states, investors, financial institutions, and communities.Footnote 128 The NAPP’s vision is to be realised through a three-prone method: (i) productivity improvement especially on the access to land, soil fertility enhancement, access to information and knowledge, production management, storage, processing, marketing and trade, (ii) private investment expansion with emphasis on access to finance and agribusiness investment development and (iii) institutional realignment for improved service delivery and development outcomes with emphasis on greater inclusiveness, participation of youth and women, infrastructure, research and innovation, climate change as well as food and nutrition security.Footnote 129 The NAPP’s proposals comprise of development domestic value chains for commodities such as rice, wheat, maize, and soya beans; strengthening agricultural export markets for products including cocoa, cassava and oil palm; providing a better enabling environment for agricultural development by improving infrastructure, designing clearer policies, and improving working relationships between the tiers of government; and providing better inputs, tools, and training that allow farmers to increase their yields.Footnote 130 Agriculture is one of the drivers of Nigeria’s economy, but a driver of deforestation. The effect of unhealthy farm practices raises for climate change makes effective implementation of REDD+ quite important to the sector. For instance, it is reported that agricultural practices in Nigeria aid deforestation and a disruption of the ecosystem in general.Footnote 131Therefore, the NAPP may play an important role in the implementation of REDD+ considering the level of greenhouse gas emission generated as a result of agricultural activities in Nigeria. A reduction of greenhouse gas emission is one of the objectives of REDD+. Without the Nigerian government ensuring that its policies are environmentally friendly, continuing implementation of REDD+ will face challenges.

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

The implementation of the REDD+ initiative in Nigeria is ongoing, however, emerging human right issues and forest crimes are challenging. Degradation and pursuit of agricultural goals have negative impact on forests and dependents. Evidence exists on the possibility that forest dependent communities may be displaced in the context of REDD+ implementation. Forest crimes also pose serious threat in that insurgent groups and other suspected criminals take cover under forest to perpetrate illicit activities ranging from kidnapping to hostage taking. They take advantage of the fact that forests are very vast and state security do not have sufficient data on the demography of the terrain These developments have negative implications on the right to life and socio-economic rights of forest dependent communities in Nigeria. There is a considerable comprehensive legal framework by which the REDD+ initiative may thrive for long in Nigeria; however, enforcement of instruments for the benefit of local communities remains a concern. It may be concluded that unless the welfare of communities living around the forests takes the front burner, rights will be undermined, and forest reserve will continue to deplete.

Consequently, for the successful implementation of the REDD+ initiative across Nigeria, it is important that international standards are adhered to. This requires transparency across all levels, and proper compliance with applicable laws. The rights of the communities affected in the bid to preserve forest resources must be protected. The government must realise that the welfare of the people is as important as the project to preserve the environment. Violation of human rights may lead to conflicts, loss of lives and property and ultimately defeat the good purpose for which the REDD+ initiative was established. In the interest of the REDD+ projects, landowners must be engaged regularly in the process and their land tenureship should be protected. This may build trust and eliminate misconceptions about the project.

On forest crimes, the government both at the federal and states level should partner to bring an end to the heightened insecurity. Forest crimes do not only cause socio-political instability, but also have an adverse effect on the environment. The government of Nigeria has to own up to their responsibility under Section 20 of the Constitution to protect and improve the environment and safeguard the forest. Suspected criminals gained access into these forests due to lack of proper managements by the state governments. To reclaim and maintain the forest territories already taken over by suspected criminals, the government have to be more intentional about protecting the lives of the citizens, particularly the forest dependents. Government must beef up security and protect lives and forest resources. In relation to gaps in the legal framework, implementation is key while some amendments are also necessary. Section 28 of the LUA should be amended to define what public purpose is and modified to affirm that compensation should align with international standards. Compensation should not only consider the monetary value lost, but also the social, religious and cultural impacts of forceful acquisition on forest dependent communities in Nigeria.