Assessment of Deforestation Impact in Wasagu Forest Reserve Kebbi State Nigeria

Abstract

This study assesses the deforestation and restoration activities in Wasagu forest reserve, Kebbi State Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select five (5) districts for the study and in each district four (4) villages were selected. Convenience sampling was used to select ten (10) respondents from each village, thus giving a sample size of two hundred (200) respondents. The results showed the distribution of respondents based on their socio-economic characteristics which were dominated by males with 74.5% aged 31 – 40 having the highest value of 31.0%, followed by 41 – 50 which had 29.0% who are within productive ages, Married respondents dominated with the value of 85.0%, educational level showed that Arabic/Islamic school had 32.0% which lack literacy or formal education, farmers dominated with the value of 74.0% in terms of occupation in the study area. The results also revealed that agricultural activities dominated with 63.0%, Illegal logging of woods had the value of 9.0% which was the lowest in terms of causes of deforestation with, 4 – 7 trees exploited by individuals per year with a value of 63.5%. Most respondents prefer agricultural lands to forests, 90.5% as observed in the study area. It is therefore recommended that, since agricultural activities are the major causes of deforestation in the study area, agroforestry should be encouraged for forest land sustainability.

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