Description

Toward the end of the 1800s, the colonial government began establishing forest reserves. By 1900 more than 970 square kilometers had been set aside. By 1930 this reserve had grown to almost 30,000 square kilometers, and by 1970 to 93,420 square kilometers, mostly in the savanna regions.

Through the 1950s, forest regeneration was largely by natural reseeding, although the government established some small plantations near larger towns for fuelwood and poles. In the early 1960s, the government began emphasizing the development of forest plantations, especially ones planted with fast-growing, exotic species, such as teak and gmelina (an Australian hardwood). By 1976 about 115,000 hectares had been planted.

During the late 1970s and 1980s, state plantations became an important source of timber, paper pulp, poles, and fuelwood. Despite these developments, forestry’s share of Nigeria’s expanding GDP declined from 6 percent in the late 1950s to 2 percent in the late 1970s and 1980s. Earnings from the export of timber and wood products–6 percent of export income in 1960– declined to 1 percent of export income in 1970 and virtually nothing in the late 1970s and 1980s, as domestic needs increased rapidly. The oil boom of the 1970s slowed exports further, as more and more wood was diverted to the domestic construction industry.

That Nigeria has a comparative advantage in the Agricultural sector is not in doubt but harnessing and developing these potentials has been the challenge. Of the less than 40% Agriculture contributes to the Gross Domestic Product {GDP} of the economy, forestry accounts for 3% only whereas out of the total landmass 92.4 million hectares of the country, 31.3 million hectares is covered by forest having over 490 tress whereas only about 100 are utilized.

The equatorial maritime air mass along the coast influences the climate which is characterized by high humidity and heavy rainfall, creating the rainforest zone of Nigeria and cutting across mainly the southern part of the country.

Nigeria stands to gain a lot from the cultivation, development and organized exploitation of her forest reserves especially in these days of global warming. Forest provides wood, foods, tourism and other industrial raw materials.

Some of the investment opportunities available in the forest industry include

-Production of pulpwood and paper.
-Establishment of sawmills
-Eco-tourism Development:
-Wood Processing and Allied Industries
– Establishment of Carpentry/Furniture workshops
– Mulberry Plantation/Sericulture
-Export of Processed Woods
-Honey Production
– Mushroom Production

This report seeks for establish the financial viability or otherwise of exporting processed woods { Teak, Gmelina and Eki} in Nigeria. The total cost of exporting a container load of Teak is estimated at N 1,076,000, Gmelina N 732,600 and Eki N 420,000. The estimated return in investment per container is between 20%- 30%.

The manpower required to run the project is between 1-2 persons with one purchasing the woods from the saw mills and the other selling to the buyers, though these process can be handle by one person.