Education
Lagos residents blame loss of trees, green spaces for rising heat exposure – EnviroNews
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Some Lagos residents say the loss of trees and green spaces has increased their exposure to heat amid expanding urban development.
They spoke in separate interviews on Sunday, September 20, 2026, in Lagos.
A civil servant, Mrs. Abiodun Adebayo, a civil servant, who assumed work at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, in 2010, recalled the area’s mature trees and patches of greenery.
Adebayo said much of the greenery had disappeared over the years, while the paved surfaces, structures and other developments had increased around the area.
“Before, you could sit outside and enjoy the shade. Now, when the sun is strong, everybody wants to remain indoors,” she said.
Pointing to a section of the Obafemi Awolowo Way, Adebayo recalled when trees provided shade where the space is now largely bare.
“This place had plenty trees for shade. Now, it is bare and you can hardly find single respite from the sun,” she said.
Observations showed noticeable changes in the area’s greenery compared with a 2024 photograph of the same location.
Mr. Adishun Okita, a resident of Funsho Williams Avenue, Surulere, for about five years, recalled seeing orange and mango trees in the area.
He said residents previously used the open spaces to relax and escape the afternoon heat.
Okita said he began noticing trees being removed about two years ago as shops and other structures emerged on previously green spaces.
He said a mango tree he valued was cut down for infrastructure, while an orange tree in front of his house was removed for a shop.
“Before, there used to be natural breeze brought by the trees. But right now, everywhere is hot because the spaces have been built with shops,” he said.
Okita said residents once gathered beneath the trees during power outages, using the shade to escape the heat and play draughts.
“Sometimes in the afternoon when there is no light, we used to stay under the tree shade just to get air and play draughts,” he said.
“Right now, we just stay inside and adapt to the heat,” he added.
Okita called for more trees to be planted alongside development to provide natural shade and improve outdoor comfort.
“I feel like they should plant more trees rather, to help us with natural air,” he said.
For Mr. Mohammed Sani, a trader around Iponri Bridge, fewer trees have also changed how people work outdoors.
Sani, who has traded in the area for seven years, said trees previously shielded traders and residents from direct sunlight.
“In those times, the trees block all the sun. But now, the sun is all over the place,” he said.
He said traders now had to improvise ways of protecting themselves and their goods from intense sunlight.
At his fish-selling spot, which he identified as Mahombella, Sani uses an umbrella when the sun becomes intense.
“I open my umbrella when the sun is too high, so it doesn’t spoil my market,” he said.
Mrs. Ngozi Afamefuna, a resident of Haruna, Ogba, said County Hospital had been her family’s hospital for more than 20 years.
She recalled that the hospital environment was greener and cooler around 2016 and 2017, with trees providing shade for patients and visitors.
“Then, there were trees here that kept the environment very cool,” she said.
Afamefuna recalled sitting beneath the trees during a previous admission because of her love for nature.
“It’s no longer like that now, and that is not good,” she said.
She urged the government to strengthen measures against tree felling, saying protecting trees would benefit residents and the environment.
A 2024 study published in the International Journal of Biometeorology found high heat-stress conditions in highly urbanised parts of Lagos.
The researchers found lower heat-stress conditions in less urbanised areas with higher vegetation cover and recommended increasing tree canopy and green spaces.
Another 2024 study examined street trees across Lagos’ 16 Local Government Areas, recording 4,017 trees belonging to 46 species.
The researchers said the findings could guide decisions on where trees are most needed and support more equitable distribution of urban tree resources.
The Lagos State Government has also emphasised the need to balance urban development with protection and expansion of green cover.
Speaking at the 2026 Lagos State Tree Planting Day on July 14, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said anyone who unlawfully felled a tree without a permit was required by law to replace it with five trees.
By Uchechi Afonne and Mariam Hassan
