Missing the Forest for the Trees: Ekiti State’s Quest for Forestry Revenue and its Impact on Forest Management

Effective forest management is required to reduce deforestation, protect local communities, tackle climate change, and restore biodiversity. Like other countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Nigerian federal and decentralised governments have to find a balance between managing their forests sustainably, and other demands for the trees and land. Local actors use the forest for economic activities, such as harvesting trees for charcoal or timber, and others want to expand agricultural land. No single policy solution can guarantee to sustainably manage forests and halt deforestation. Land use regulations, stronger control of forestry industry practices, more public investment in forest management, and better tax and subsidy policies, must all play a role.

This paper assesses the current forestry tax regime in Ekiti State, one of eight Nigerian states where forests represent more than 50 per cent of land area, and where forest revenue has been historically relevant. Based on 16 interviews with government state officials, forest officers, and actors from the industry, and data from the Ekiti Forestry Commission, our analysis suggests that ongoing depletion of forest resources is partially connected to an excessive focus on their capacity to generate revenue. The conceptualisation of the Forestry Commission as a revenue-raising rather than management agency, a continuous drive to extract revenue from the sector through outdated tax rates, and a view of industry potential disconnected from the existing stock, all perversely led to a lower contribution from forestry to the state budget.

Summary of ICTD Working Paper 170 written by Giovanni Occhiali and Michael Falade.