West Africa Losing Water as Forests Disappear, 122M People at Risk

A devastating cycle is unfolding across West Africa, where widespread deforestation is accelerating a water crisis that now threatens over 122 million people in Ghana, Niger, and Nigeria. A comprehensive 12-year study using satellite data has revealed the stark reality: as trees fall, clean water vanishes at an alarming rate.

The research, conducted jointly by WaterAid and Tree Aid, found that for every 1,000 hectares of forest cleared in Niger and Nigeria, 9.25 hectares of surface water disappear. This isn’t just about quantity—it’s about survival. In Niger, an staggering 99.5% of freshwater is already too polluted to drink safely, and deforestation is making this crisis worse by removing nature’s water filters.

“Trees and water are the essence of life in West Africa’s forest communities,” explains Abdul-Nashiru Mohammed, WaterAid’s regional director. Without forests to draw water into the earth and filter out sediments and pollution, communities face increased disease, food insecurity, and dehydration. The situation creates a vicious cycle where deforestation and climate change reinforce each other’s destructive effects.

Perhaps most troubling, researchers warn that what appears to be more surface water is often misleading—it’s frequently contaminated runoff from flooding rather than clean, usable water. As Ghanaian scientists involved in the study noted, this represents a “dangerous new reality” where environmental degradation accelerates at multiple levels simultaneously, leaving millions of people increasingly vulnerable to water-related health risks and economic hardship.