Conservation of forest resources by rural farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria

This study assessed the conservation practices, forest resources available, roles of local organisations in forest conservation and constraints to conservation of forest resources in the area. Multi-stage sampling proceedure was used to select 100 respondents used for the study. Data were collected with the use of interview schedule and analysed with frequency distribution, percentages and mean scores. Result shows that greater percentage (96.7% and 76.7%) were male and between 31 and 40 years respectively. The prevailing conservation practice in the study area were enforcement of law against bush burning ((X) over bar = 4.3), legislation against indiscriminate felling of trees ((X) over bar = 4.1) and restrictions on some areas ((X) over bar = 4.0). Various forest resources available in the area included: timber (95%) and Bush meat (98.3%). The roles of local organisations in conserving forest resources included: prevention of clearing of forest area for agricultural purposes ((X) over bar = 3.3) and provision of forest guards for forest preservation. Constraints to conservation of forest resources included insufficient finance to conserve forest resources ((X) over bar = 3.4) and lack of local people involvement in conservation decisions ((X) over bar = 3.3). This implies that there are many forest resources. Hence it was recommended that there should be provision of fund and involvement of rural people in making decisions for conservation of forest resources in the area.