Protected Areas and Management Practices: Evidence in Southwest Nigeria
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Date
2022
Authors
Fasona, M
Bello, A
Agbor, R
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Science Publishing Group, New York
Abstract
Forests are important plant communities that consist of trees and other woody vegetation that perform life supporting functions on earth. Forest reserves are areas protected from use mainly by the government in order to preserve this resource. With the phenomenal increasing population globally and in particular Nigeria and over dependence on forest resources, it is crucial to be aware of the rate of deforestation and how to curb it. In view of this, the paper assessed the conditions of the forest reserves and management systems by government officials and communities in south-western Nigeria, particularly Ekiti and Ondo states. Remote sensing techniques and social surveys were employed in carrying out this task. Landsat imagery of 1984, 2000 and 2016 and the Nigerian topographic map of 1960 were the spatial datasets used. Two sets of questionnaires were also used for the study covering community leaders (10), and government agencies (26) to further explain the observed changes and management systems. Results show that there has been a general decline in the area of heavy forests in most of the forest reserves. This decline was as much as 48%, and 54% of its base year size in Ekiti, and Ondo state respectively; which has given way to the emergence of light forests and the underlying rock outcrops. Forests are mainly in
care of government officials who widely accepted the reality of deforestation within their jurisdiction while also acknowledging excessive lumbering and forest clearance for agriculture as their main challenges. The need for more aggressive forest regeneration efforts by agencies in charge of the protected areas; urgent delimiting of these reserves, increased capital investment in forest monitoring, and improvement in agricultural system efficiency were recommended.
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Scholarly article
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Citation
Mayowa Fasona, Adedoyin Bello, Ruth Agbor (2022): Protected Areas and Management Practices: Evidence in Southwest Nigeria. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy. Vol. 9, No. 6, 2021, pp. 140-152. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20210906.12. Science Publishing Group, New York, USA