"The active participation of the private sector in funding thematic issues of the [environmental] conventions has to be encouraged", he [UNDP Resident representative in Nigeria] advised...[T]he Executive Director of the Nigerian conservation foundation (NCF), Dr Muhtari Amini-Kano, bemoaned the continued erosion of the nation's forest resources despite all efforts being taken to guard against the practice. "A combination of factors have been identified for the loss of forest resources in Nigeria. Apart from logging and farming, other direct causes of deforestation in Nigerian have included fuel-wood gathering, livestock grazing, bush burning, conversion of natural forest to plantations of commercial grade trees, mining, oil exploitation and de-reservation of forest reserves by government for non-forest uses, including urbnanisation and infrastructural development he observed.