Topic:
Country: Nigeria
Delegate Name: Hope Orban
United Nations Development Program
Fire Prevention and Response
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Hope Orban
Forest Hills Eastern
Forest fires ravage our Earth. Recently, in the years 2019 and 2020, Australia has struggled with devastating bushfires that have damaged plants and animals in that region. According to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, these bushfires burned more than 46 million acres. At least 3,500 homes and many other buildings were destroyed. The Australian bushfires directly killed 34 people and continue to take lives with people dying due to smoke inhalation. This is only one example of the disastrous fires which have destroyed the environment. Around the world, fires are occuring in places where they were previously uncommon, like rainforests and tropical areas. Fires greatly affect both a nation’s economy as well as land wildlife. Massive amounts of money are used to repair damages caused by fires. Also, fire fighting teams are very expensive. In 2018, the state of California allocated $44.28 billion dollars for firefighting. With the rise of climate change, the many problems caused by fire continue to grow worse.
Nigeria is home to many different climates. In the dry season, savanna brush land and forests in Nigera are vulnerable to fires. During these dry periods, vegetation is drained of moisture. This results in masses of flammable material that can readily ignite. In Nigeria, burning is a cultural tradition used for clearing land, waste disposal, and livestock management. Wildfires caused by human activities occur, but most fires begin due to environmental factors like the dry winds that blow through the country between December and March. The ability to fight fires in rural areas of Nigeria is extremely poor. Well-maintained fire fighting units only exist in the urban areas of Nigeria. Rural areas of the country have ill-equipped and unorganized policies for responding to fires. Accoring to local sources in Nigeria, 2021 fires in the Cross River State were some of the worst fires they’ve experienced. In order to combat the issues posed by forest fires, the country has set many goals to combat fires in Nigeria such as restoring forests. According to the UN, Nigeria has set a goal to increase forest cover from 6% to 25% by 2030. They’ve implemented action plans and programs to help the poverty of forest-dependent people, especially bringing them to new sustainable jobs. This will reduce their dependency of products needed from the forests. Nigeria has also implemented systems that enforce punishments for illegal logging. All of these measures will help Nigeria combat climate change, effectivly helping reduce fires in their nation.
In order to continue preventing and respoding to forest fires, Nigera asks for better resources in rural areas to avert, detect, and address fires. Nigeria wants to work with surrounding countries with dry seasons that result in fires and who also need better resources to address said fires. Additionally, Nigeria would like to continue making goals and implementing innitaives to restore forests in the country. Also, it would like to promote and create more policies and innitavties to manage poverty in the country, especially with forest-dependent peoples. Nigeria hopes to continue to improve it’s prevention and response to devastating fires in the nation.
