Abstract
The abundance of natural resources in a country significantly enhances its wealth and supports economic growth. Natural resources cannot fulfill their optimal function in economic development if not managed sustainably. The environment encompasses the habitat of humans, plants and animals including air, water, vegetation, flora, fauna and the overall ecosystem. Nigeria is an ecologically distinctive nation with a diverse array of ecosystems. This ecosystem include coastal and mangrove swamps, lowland montane forests and grassland savannahs, comprising three principal forest types and seven vegetation zones throughout the country.The study therefore carried out an appraisal of environmental laws for the protection of natural resources with specific objectives to examine the types of natural resources, importance of conservation of natural resources, methods of conserving natural resources for the purpose of achieving sustainable development and applicability of international framework with the aim of achieving goal 8 and 12 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve this, the study adopted a desk-based research methodology and examined the existing international and domestic environmental laws for the protection and conservation of natural resources. The study concluded that although the exploitation of natural resources is essential for economic development, it is quite unfortunate that exploitation of these resources brings about a lot of negative effect to the environment, which includes deforestation, erosion, pollution and loss of biodiversity. The study therefore made recommendations to improve the sustainable use of natural resources by harnessing resources in a manner that will not imperil the environment but improve income generation of the nation.