IMPACT OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ON DEFORESTATION IN NIGERIA: A TIME SERIES ANALYSIS

Abstract

Forest resources serve as essential facilitators for human daily endeavours; however, their degradation 
is often exacerbated by insufficient planning regarding their replacement. This results in a multitude 
of economic and environmental challenges. This research ascertained the long-term effects of 
economic activities on deforestation within Nigeria and utilizing annual data spanning from 1991 to 
2023. The results derived from the ARDL bound test indicate the existence of a long-term 
cointegrating relationship among the examined variables. Furthermore, the study disclosed that the 
long-term estimates demonstrate that the linear coefficients of the annual growth of gross domestic 
product (GDPPA) exert a positive influence on deforestation and are statistically significant at the 
1% level, suggesting that heightened economic activities in the preceding period have been beneficial 
to forest areas and are unlikely to induce deforestation. Nevertheless, the findings pertaining to the 
quadratic term for gross domestic product (GDPPA_2) and population growth (POPA) revealed a 
negative and significant impact on deforestation in the long run; conversely, the coefficients for the 
short-term results indicate an inverse relationship. The study advocates that governmental bodies and 
all relevant stakeholders should promote afforestation initiatives and enforce sustainable regulations 
to mitigate the practice of tree felling, alongside fostering sustainable forest conservation efforts.