Population growth and its impact on the environment has become so pervasive that
population concerns have become topical issues in contemporary development planning.
Human populations ultimately depend on the environment for food, fibre, and other
needs. The impact exerted by teeming populations can render the environment
vulnerable to many adverse effects, deliberate or inadvertent. The fall out of intense
human activities on ecosystems in an effort to meet developmental needs often leads to
environmental degradation which manifests in soil erosion, desertification, pollution,
and climate change, which undermines biological productivity and environmental
stability. Ecotourism emphasises nature in its untouched state and, as such, leans heavily
on the environment and culture of host destinations. Sustained unsustainable human
activities inherent from population pressure is antithetical to environmental stability; as
it can also, by extension, prove detrimental to sustainable ecotourism. This paper
examines the dynamics of population, the environment, and their concomitants in
national planning and development in Nigeria, especially as they affect ecotourism. The
study relied on desktop review of available literature for gathering relevant information.
Nigeria’s population and development picture are such that would impose unbearable
strain and encourage vulnerability of the environment to rapid degradation; which in
turn would hinder sustainable ecotourism. It recommends the integration of population
and environment concerns in development planning and implementation to encourage
sustainable ecotourism as a contributing partner in national development.