A Professor of Forestry Extension and Rural Learning at the University of Ibadan, Professor Ismail Olabisi Azeez, has advocated a multi-stakeholder approach to addressing the growing challenge of deforestation and forest degradation in Nigeria.

He made the call while delivering the 614th Inaugural Lecture of the University titled “Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Remediating Nigeria’s Vanishing Forests – A Learner’s Perspective.”

Professor Azeez examined the developmental trends in global forest resources from prehistoric times to the present era.

He explained that forests once covered vast portions of the earth and were sustainably managed through indigenous systems before the rise of commercial exploitation.

The Don noted that pre-colonial African societies preserved forests through sacred groves, customary laws, and community-based management systems.

According to him, colonial forestry activities between 1900 and 1960 marked a major turning point in Nigeria’s forest history as forests shifted from communal heritage to economic commodities, adding that these activities resulted in intensified timber extraction, the establishment of forest reserves, and the expansion of export-oriented timber markets.

Professor Azeez said that although forests remain critical for biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, and rural livelihoods, global forest resources have continued to decline, and he warned that continuous depletion of forests poses severe environmental, economic and social consequences, including biodiversity loss, climate change and threats to rural livelihoods.

He affirmed that forest resources continue to face increasing pressure from deforestation, urbanization, agricultural expansion, and unsustainable exploitation practices in Nigeria, and disclosed that forestry extension services have emerged as a critical mechanism for bridging the gap between research outputs, policy frameworks, and forest-dependent communities.

The Inaugural Lecturer was of the view that local people are the most appropriate caretakers of tropical forests because their livelihood is intricately connected to them, but he warned that the management of forest resources is often a complex venture which cannot be sustained effectively by a single actor.

He identified inadequate funding, shortage of trained personnel, weak institutional structures, and poor integration of local realities into policy implementation as major challenges confronting extension services in Nigeria. He, therefore, advocated collaborative governance involving governments, local communities, research institutions, non-governmental organisations, and private stakeholders.

He recommended the strengthening of community-based management systems, empowering of forest-fringe communities through technical training, integration of indigenous knowledge into conservation policies, and the establishment of extension units manned by professional communicators and rural learning experts.

He also called for the enhancement of stakeholder awareness, promotion of sustainable forest management practices, acceleration of afforestation and reforestation efforts, and the provision of effective extension services which would serve as a critical bridge between policy objectives and practical, community-level implementation.

Professor Azeez urged the State Forestry Departments to have extension units manned by professional communicologists and rural learners who must be appraised with latest learning skills.

The Inaugural Lecturer also called for the strengthening of community-based leadership structure and appreciation of indigenous knowledge input on forest management and empowerment of local governance through training of leadership on western approach to biodiversity conservation with a view to appreciating exogenous knowledge in managing their indigenous environment.

He said that the appropriate use of the electronic/print media is imperative for sensitizing and conscientizing politicians, policy and decision makers on the role of forest resources in sustainable industrial and human development as well as environmental amelioration.

The Professor of Forestry Extension and Rural Learning highlighted forestry development support communication, sustainable rural land use and forestry development, native intelligence, indigenous knowledge system and forestry extension as important forestry extension tools with high prospects for positive impact.

He stressed that research is essential for improving the effectiveness of forestry extension in promoting sustainable forest management in Nigeria.

The Don said it was imperative to embrace participatory approaches, integrate local knowledge, leverage technology and strengthen institutional frameworks for forestry extension to become more responsive, adaptive, inclusive and impactful in addressing current development challenges.

The Inaugural Lecture was the eleventh in the series for the 2025/2026 academic session.