Felling, transporting and piling up logs of wood is back-breaking work. "Sometimes we're in the bush for weeks before we've collected enough wood," explains Domingo Philip (above), who heads the team of young men. They cover the two meter (78 inch) high pile of wood with earth and start up a fire. The wood now needs to smoulder for about 11 days. Then the charcoal is ready for Philip and his men to sell.

The area where they cut the wood is Edumanom Forest Reserve. The 9,000-hectare tropical forest lies in the oil-rich Niger Delta in southern Nigeria. It's home to Nigeria's last chimpanzees. But the fragile ecosystem is in danger, not only from the oil industry but also from the woodcutting. The trees are cut down, and the burning process produces fumes that are harmful to the people and the environment. It poisons the groundwater and the surrounding soil. Moreover, immense carbon emissions are produced.

Read more: Oil companies Shell and Eni to stand trial in Italy over Nigeria bribes

But Philip and his men live from this business. They sell the charcoal to local households, bakeries or traders that take it to the big cities. A 50-kilogram (110-pound) sack costs the equivalent of about €3 ($3.56).

Traders in the city, however, get a lot more for the charcoal. They pack it in paper bags and sell it on to Europe and Asia. "I have one Arab client who really sifts through the charcoal to check the quality," says Abubaker Usman, a local producers in the town of Bauchi. "He exports the best quality charcoal and sells the rest locally in Nigeria."



Charcoal sells for the equivalent of €3 on the local markets

Hidden tropical woods

According to the UN, Nigeria exported 80,000 tons of charcoal for approximately €25 million ($29 million) in 2007, which makes it one of the biggest exporters of charcoal worldwide. Germany, on the other hand, is the biggest importer in Europe, taking in 250,000 tons (50 million pounds) of charcoal per year.

Very few Germans, however, know that they're running their grills with a charred piece of tropical swamp forest. According to the environmental organization Tropical Forest Trust (TFT), 34 percent of the imported charcoal comes from Poland, while charred wood from tropical forests in Nigeria and Paraguay each make up 15 percent of the imports. But even the charcoal from Poland contains tropical woods. In Poland charcoal from around the world is repacked and then sold to neighboring countries.

Loopholes in the European Timber Regulation makes such things possible. The regulation came into force in 2013 and was established to stop illegal wood and paper products from entering the EU. But while tropical woods are tightly regulated, charcoal does not even appear in the paper.

"Why certain wood products are not included in the regulation is a puzzle to me," Johannes Zahnen from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) told DW. "For several products it's basically up to the traders to ensure that their products are legal."

Zahnen and his colleagues conducted their own investigation into 20 of these products. They're sold at gas stations, supermarkets and hardware shops across Germany. The study found that 80 percent of the sacks they examined were labeled with incorrect information about the origin of the products. Some even contained wood from protected tree species.

"The marketing strategies are often sloppy or contain outright lies," says Zahnen. On closer examination, for instance, a sack that was labeled clearly as containing no tropical wood actually consisted entirely of tropical wood. "The consumer is practically left out in the cold and has no chance to do anything about it," Zahnen explains.

For many here at the riverside, the logging business is an important source of income

Could the trees disappear?

More than half of the world's felled wood is turned into firewood or charcoal, according to the UN. Three-quarters of the charcoal production takes place in Africa and about 98 percent of the charcoal stays on the continent. That is because while Europeans mainly use the charcoal for barbecues in the summer, African households use it for cooking every day.

In the Nigerian town of Bauchi, the business is booming. "Kerosene is so costly. That's the reason why people use charcoal," says charcoal trader Ibrahim. From his profits he was able to build a house.

There is little awareness about the environmental hazard of the woodcutting. "The bush does not finish, so as they cut trees, many more will grow," says Rachael John, who uses the charcoal to roast plantains at a local market.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest Protests in paradise "For the first time somebody is listening to us," said a resident of a small village in Ekuri rainforest. They’ve never received journalists from an international media house. The local government of Cross River State in south-eastern Nigeria plans to build a gigantic highway through the rainforest. Its residents are worried over how this will affect their home and their way of life.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest A neglected region The government has done little for them, feel the people of Ekuri. They built the bridges that lead to their villages themselves. There is no running water and no electricity. Before the elections, one politician visited the villages with a helicopter. He distributed money, said the residents, and made promises. After the elections, they never heard from him again.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest Kicked off their land The shock came with the start of the new year: In a newspaper, the authorities announced that they would build a super highway through Cross River State. Those living 10 kilometers left and right of the planned highway would lose their land and be forced to leave.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest Nigeria’s first "super highway" The 260 kilometer highway will connect a new port in Calabar to Nigeria’s northern region. With six lanes and a promise of high-speed internet along the route, the state government hopes to make it one of the most modern roads on the continent. The project will cost an estimated 800 billion Naira (350 million euros, $402 million). But it is unclear where the money will come from.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest Trees have fallen The first trees had already been felled before the budget and the environmental assessment were through. The environmental report is now completed, but the ministry in Nigeria’s capital Abuja has said that it falls short of international standards.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest Bulldozers at the ready Even before the controversial assessment report, the environment ministry heeded the calls from the environmental activists and local residents and demanded a stop to the deforestation. The bulldozers have ceased their operation, but they are on standby, ready to take up the work at any time.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest Endangered species The Ekuri rainforest is home to endangered species like the drill baboon and the Cross River gorilla. The forest also hosts 1,500 different plant species and is one of the most diverse areas in the world.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest "They are hiding something" Odigha Odigha is the former chairman of the forest commission of Cross River State. Together with the "Coalition for Environment", he is trying to put a stop to the construction of the highway. "The state wants to take over 520,000 hectares of land, that is 25 percent of the entire state," said Odigha. "Nobody is telling us why they need such a huge area. They are hiding something."

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest Easy money instead of development? Some of the residents and activists suspect that what is really at stake are the precious woods of the forest. That is why the state doesn’t simply improve the existing road, they say. They believe that the road project is an excuse to cut down the trees and sell them abroad.

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest No reason to panic says the state State information minister, Rosemary Archibong, denies the claims. "We plant two new trees for every tree that we cut down," she said. But she has no clear answer as to why 10 kilometers on each side of the highway have to be nationalized. "The people who live along the highway will profit from the development, for instance through farming. But we’re still discussing that."

Nigeria: A highway through the rainforest The protests continue Nobody asked us, complain the residents of Ekuri. Margret Ikimu is disappointed by the state government. "They should first fix the existing road," she said. "The state government has been in power for a year and we haven’t seen any improvements. Now they want to take away the only thing that we have – the forest." Author: Jan-Philipp Scholz/ Adrian Kriesch /so



In the dry season in particular, local farmers turn to charcoal production for survival. Yet by doing this, they not only contribute to global warming but also destroy their own livelihood. Each year, Nigeria loses approximately 350,000 hectares of fertile land to desertification and soil erosion.

According to Nigeria's National Council on Environment, the country's current forest cover is under 4 percent. In October 2017, the office recommended a ban on charcoal exports.

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Johannes Zahnen sees this as a short-term solution to curb the export of illegal wood products. "If the charcoal comes from sustainably managed plantations, the exports business could actually help the country,” he says. Modern production methods could increase the production five-fold, but the problem has to be addressed at its root.

For instance, the amount of charcoal needed could be reduced by using charcoal-saving stoves. Such stoves cut the costs at the household level and produce less harmful smoke for the people using them. In addition, they're often easy to build with locally available products like clay. "Such simple methods can reduce the demand and therefore also the effect on the environment," says Zahnen.

Muhammad Bello and Aliyu Muhammad Wazir contributed to the report.