1. Position paper<br />Position paper for BISS MUN <br />Committee: Environment<br />Issue: deforestation, desertification<br />Country: Federal Republic of Nigeria <br />Delegate: Grace Chung<br /> Federal Republic of Nigeria believes very strongly in the importance of deforestation and desertification and how they are tied to environment. Nigeria has lost 90% of its forest during this century, keep losing 350,000 hectares of trees every year. By 1985, deforestation inroads 1,544 square miles of the nation’s forest territory. That connected to the encroachment of the Sahara Desert at two to three miles a year, leading to crop and fiscal losses and drought. According to the Ministry of Environment that it was occupied by the dunes, which has increased from 25,000 hectares to more than 20,000 hectare, with its attendant negative influence on food and live stock. <br /> Currently the most vulnerable group in the society women and the poor use about 30million tones of firewood for cheapest means of cooking. In deforestation trees planted by government as shelter belts to check the advancing dunes are withering due to lack of attention. However shelter belts along desert fringes of eight northern states including Borno State under the World Bank-assisted afforestation program have not been effective because of the trees falling down for firewood, while some have withered due to high temperature,<br />inadequate rainfall and drought. The entire semi-arid zone of Nigeria lies approximately between latitude 110N and 140N is affected by desertification. It has consistently suffered most from all recorded drought episodes in Nigeria’s recent history.<br /> Nigeria is going to consider deforestation, desertification issues harder to improve our current hazard environment, by not only planting more trees as we establish shelterbelts to prevent advancing dunes, but also stopping inroad to our nation’s land. As we forbid illegal commercial logging. Finally we can prevent the serious use of firewood by developing our copious sustainable resources such as water, oil. Finally we can reach to nation who’s <br />
